Lucha Launches El Participante Magazine

Latino rights campus activist group Lucha has launched its own magazine.

El participante, which means “the participant” in Spanish, appeared on campus Monday as the first installment of what its editors hope will be a monthly magazine.
Wyatt Ford, CC ’09, and one of the magazine’s editors, said that the magazine is dedicated to “trying to connect all the activism on campus.”

El participante did not arise out of an explicit desire to cover recent controversial events on campus. “The idea was to report on what Lucha has done and to have a forum that’s independent of Spectator for people to express their ideas,” Ford added. “I’ve been involved in discussions about this [the magazine] before any of the hate crimes.”

According to Ford, the magazine is not meant to simply be a mouthpiece for Lucha but rather to include a wide range of submissions from different groups on campus and to serve as a forum for a broad left-wing coalition. Iliana Feliz, CC ’10, and the magazine’s editor-in-chief, echoed Ford’s comments on the importance of outreach to el participante’s mission.

“We will be talking to other organizations trying to get their input,” Feliz promised.
“Right now, it’s the introductory issue, which is why we’ve included a lot about ourselves ... In the future, we plan to do more on the community.”

The first issue includes an article on a rally for the Jena Six at Bronx Community College. Additionally, a letter from the editors explains that “every month el participante will include a ‘Core’ curriculum, an excerpt from a foundational, provocative, and important text from leftist tradition.” This month, the spot features a portion of a 1965 speech by Malcolm X.

Rebecca Dunnan, CC ’08, and a member of the Columbia University College Republicans executive board, said that while she didn’t represent the Republicans’ board, she welcomed the opportunity for discourse. Dunnan stated that she believed “any publication that has different viewpoints on it is a great thing to have on campus, regardless of whether it’s a left-leaning publication or a right-leaning publication.”

When questioned about el participante’s characterization of Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist—whose on-campus speech last year sparked a protest which indirectly led to Lucha’s creation—as a racist, she said she was not surprised, saying, “A lot of people have been unwilling to look at it from a different perspective.” Dunnan expressed hope that the magazine would lead to further discourse inclusive of all political viewpoints on campus.

Lydia DePillis, CC ’09, and editor of Bwog, expressed support for the new magazine, saying, “I think it’s great. The publication scene has expanded a ton at Columbia in the years since I’ve been here ... I think it’s one of the best ways to get your philosophy out there.” Student hunger strikers and their supporters expressed similar enthusiasm—Crystal Tang, BC ’08, a hunger strike supporter, stressed the existence of a broader struggle against institutional racism that links Lucha and the hunger strikers together.

Jordan Fraade can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.