RAZA Publishes New Magazine: Nuestra Voz

Tough luck for students scrambling to make up those few thousand pages of reading they skipped this semester. They just got 20 more pages.

Neustra Voz (Our Voice), a new magazine published by RAZA's Latino Political Committee, hit house distribution centers last Wednesday.

The magazine features essays, poems and a short story. Its themes emphasize both the diversity and unity of the Latino community, according to founder and editor Juan E. Garcia '99.

"The statement of unity the title invokes truly reflects the need for an understanding of the Latino community and a progress toward unity," he wrote in the magazine's introduction.

According to Garcia, the magazine was jointly funded by RAZA and a grant from the Harvard University Police Department.

While other campus publications--notably Diversity and Distinction, which was founded two years ago--focus on issues of diversity, Garcia said the Latino community is diverse enough to have its own spectrum of viewpoints within Harvard's minority community.

"There are other publications about diversity but there aren't any that explore the strengths and diversity within the Latino Community," Garcia said.

On the Harvard campus, Latino organizations such as Hola, La O and RAZA each fill their own niches, but until now they have lacked a common literary voice, said Nicole M. Rodriguez '99, whose poem "Wanted" appears in the magazine.

Diversity and Distinction Editor in Chief Jia Rui Chong '99 said she did not feel slighted that Latino students chose to form their own magazine.

"I think it's fine that they don't want to express themselves in our magazine," she said.

The new magazine might actually increase Latino submissions to Diversity and Distinction, she said, since her magazine could approach writers whose articles appear in Nuestra Voz.

Editors also said they plan to door drop Nuestra Voz next semester and distribute it earlier, to beat finals week.

One of the magazine's chief goals will be to solicit more viewpoints next year, editors said. Garcia said the current issue's focus is mostly Mexican-American, since the magazine grew out of RAZA, a Mexican-American organization.

"When we say it is 'our voice' we are hoping that not only Latinos submit pieces," Garcia added. He said the magazine invites "Anybody who has ever written a poem or would like to explore their own personal perspective" to write.