"Columbus Day... NOT!" - Xispas

Xispas is a new online magazine that spotlights Chicano culture and art. Published in Los Angeles, California, the magazine presents interviews, history, cartoons, artwork, poetry, fiction, editorials, reviews, and more. The special issue on Columbus offers a poster you can download and print out, plus articles on the history of conquest and resistance.

The magazine features interviews with people such as long-time Chicano education activist Sal Castro and Mexican singer Lila Downs, a history of the Xicano people and of Xicano rock, cartoons... including the series “Porfie and Arni” by Sergio Hernandez, artwork by artists Mark Vallen, Joe Bravo, Xavier Raul Montes, Alfonso Malagon, among others, Barriology tests by Antonio Gomez; reviews of restaurants, CDs and movies, poetry by Ariel Robello, Andres Rodriguez, and Richard Vargas, among others, short pieces by Julian Segura Camacho and Oscar Barajas; and more.

Xispas is edited by acclaimed Chicano writer, Luis J. Rodriguez, author of the international best seller, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in LA, and books in fiction, nonfiction poetry and children’s literature. He is also a founder of Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural. Xispas was launched in March of 2004 out of Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural - a bookstore, cafe, art gallery, performance space, workshop center, and cyber cafe in the Northeast San Fernando Valley section of LA. Founding members of Xispas include writers Alisha M. Rosas, Jim Rentana, Rubi Mendoza and Diane Hernandez, artists Vallen and Hernandez, musicians Hector Gonzalez and Lava Gonzalez, film maker Jim Velarde, copy editor Rachel Shelton, among others.