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Spanish language magazine gives Lincoln Latino students a voice
9/25/2018Four years ago Latino students at Lincoln High School decided they needed another outlet to express their identity and heritage. With the support of World Language/ Spanish teacher Trevor Todd and other mentors, the Revista (magazine) class was added to LHS’s curriculum to give Latino students a platform to express their voice through a publication named puño & letra.
“This student-created, student-led project is an amplifier for underrepresented voices,” Todd said. “In what's now beginning to be renamed Latinx Heritage Month, puño & letra validates intersectional identity and youth perspectives in their own language.”
That sense of individuality is evident throughout the magazine. The title puño & letra refers to “in your own handwriting.” The logo is a fist, the symbol for unity and resistance, and a letter. The fist in the logo is clenching the only letter unique to the Spanish alphabet: the ñ.
Each edition focuses on the magazine’s mission, causa (social justice), cultura (the arts), and travesura (mischief). Over the years articles have included topics ranging from immigration to queer rights, from traditional celebrations to pop culture icons, and from the scandal behind the taco emoji to movie humor pieces. The student writing staff comes from all over the globe. Current writers are from, or have roots in, Colombia, México, Honduras, Guatemala, Perú, El Salvador, as well as the United States. Past writers were from Chile, Spain and Puerto Rico.
Being a writer for the magazine comes naturally to sophomore Aliyah Blank, who is also on the Lincoln Constitution team. She is passionate about immigration because her mother is a Mexican immigrant.
“It’s important for people to understand our cultures,” she said. “There are so many stereotypes. Of course we have similarities like our language, but if you’re from Mexico or Colombia your traditions and culture are different because we come from different countries.”
puño & letra has grown over time, publishing one issue its first year, two issues the second year and an ambitious three issues last year. The magazine prints 1,000 copies per issue and is available online. It is distributed to students in Lincoln’s dual language immersion program, Spanish teachers and chapters of MEChA (a social activism group born out of the 1960s Chicano civil rights movement that many of the magazine staff participates in) outside of PPS. puño & letra has also expanded its reach with more timely articles appearing in the Cardinal Times, Lincoln’s student newspaper.
Sagarika Ramachandran, Cardinal Times editor-in-chief, says it’s a valuable contribution. “puño & letra staff have strong messages to share, and their magazine doesn’t come out as often,” she said. “They also have amazing colorful illustrations that pop right off the pages.”
As puño & letra enters its fourth year, Lincoln principal Peyton Chapman hopes it broadens the perspective of readers. She is proud of the magazine’s ability to empower student journalists and to help educate the community on issues of race and culture.
“It is vitally important to have a Spanish language magazine written, designed and published by Spanish-speaking students to honor and empower all voices and to help reduce the marginalization of diverse experiences and perspectives,” Chapman said.
-Rosie Fiallo
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