Xispas - the Xicano Experience in Arts, Literature and Politics
- Editorial Statement -

Xispas is an exciting new on-line magazine from Aztlan-Anahuac (from the Northeast San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, to be precise). Although non-exclusive, we will be geared to the large Xicano population in the United States, which today numbers in the millions. Xispas is about Xicanos, for Xicanos, by Xicanos, but not against or closed off to anyone else. We also plan to serve as a bridge to other cultures and peoples such as recent migrants from Mexico and Central America, other Latinos (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and more), other Native peoples, African Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans that have embraced, informed and enhanced the Xicano experience.

Xicanos are primarily U.S. residents of Mexican descent, mostly born or raised in the United States. They make up at least 60 percent of the close to 22 million people in the country who claim Mexican roots. They are monolingual, bilingual and in some cases trilingual (Nahuatl and other indigenous tongues) with a foot in Mexico, another foot in the United States, and both feet outside all borders. While many publications cater to so-called Latinos or Hispanics, which include such a diversity of people that Xicanos are often absent or misunderstood, they are mostly entertainment oriented. Xispas, on the other hand, will deal with ideas, culture, history, indigenous cosmology and traditions, books, opinions, social critique as well as occasional commentary on culture and entertainment.

We will have major articles on all aspects of our lives including topical issues and health concerns. Regular features will include political cartoons, exposes, columns, interviews, poetry, fiction, humor, scholarly research, satire, photography, visual art, networking opportunities, with the occasional barrioismos and relevant chismorreos. We will have well-researched and serious articles on the economic/social realities and the political and cultural trends. We will also include non-professional expression from the community. Xispas will be entertaining although not “entertainment.”

Well-designed and on the cutting edge, the magazine will draw from youth, adults and elders—re-imagining and reestablishing the vital relationships that make whole and complete communities. And we’ll be provocative and controversial. Articles will be a mix of in-house pieces and work garnered from outside sources. These must be well written, well researched, properly edited, and incisive. Even humorous and opinion pieces must be well thought out and factually correct. It will have a strong commitment to integrity and excellence without sacrificing creativity and innovation.

We will also tap into the spirit and feistiness of pioneering Xicano publications from the turbulent 1960s, 1970s and 1980s—such as Con Safos, Pocho Che, XismeArte, Regeneracion, La Raza, and others (with aspects of Lowrider, Q-vo, and Firme). We hope to be the next evolutionary step for Xicano artistic/literary/journalistic magazine development. We will update our look, our ideas and our strategies to take into account the complexities of social class, race, new technology, the media, and present political realities.