By Uni Q Mical

5.5 x 7 inches / 14 x 17.8 cm
80 pages
47 fotos, 9 illustrations

Edition of 300

(Not) In Service is the second publication by Uni Q. Mical. Navigating transit and transition in their 20’s and 30’s in the city of Baltimore, their words are a rigorous practice of embodiment and an almighty prayer of buoyancy.

This project includes photographs from Baltimore native, Iya Simone, along with Uni’s family archived albums, google map images, and finally, some background images by our own, hhp native, Adriana Monsalve.

”poet, performer, professor from baltimore. sagittarius, all day.”

(Not) in Service is a chronicle of poetry written from 2017-2022, during a transitional period of Unique’s life in her late 20s-early 30s. Many of the poems were written while Unique was “in transit” on Baltimore’s public transportation, which she counted on for her entire life up until 2022 (when she officially became a motorist). Baltimore’s transit system, known locally as the MTA (Maryland Transit Administration), is a steady, yet often unpredictable system of buses, subway trains, and light rails, which close to 2 million commuters relied upon in 2022 alone.

The title of the zine, (Not) in Service, is derived from the MTA bus marquee in Unique’s youth, which frequently frustrated commuters who stood for lengthy time frames. This project is meant to portray an unflinching, eyewitness account of the city Unique calls home, and a vulnerable disclosure of her emotional spectrum in this transitory period. Moreover, the collection speaks to Unique’s artistic mission to shift the international narrative of Baltimore City, focusing on glimpses of moments often overshadowed by tales of violence and destruction.