Literary magazine Parade provides space for marginalized voices

Hoping to provide a creative outlet for people of marginalized identities, first-years Sandy Yin and Jennifer Lee recently founded Parade, Tufts’ newest and currently unrecognized literary magazine, this semester.

While open to all identities and perspectives, the magazine intends to prioritize submissions from students of marginalized backgrounds and perspectives, including students of color, students with disabilities and gender-nonconforming students, according to Parade’s website.

“Jennifer and I are both very interested in systems of oppression and the way they shape how people of marginalized identities live their lives and see themselves represented in media, politics and society as a whole,” Yin said. “We both had experiences working with publications before, so we decided that creating a magazine that showcases marginalized identities would be a good way to voice the voices that aren’t being heard.”

The executive board is composed entirely of first-year students, according to Yin, Parade's editor-in-chief.  Lee serves as the the creative director, and other executive board representatives and editors include Priyanka Padidam and Ray Bernoff, the prose editors, Morgan Freeman, the poetry editor, Miranda Perez, the magazine’s spokesperson and Y-Binh Nguyen, the treasurer.

The magazine allows students of all identities and backgrounds to submit, striving to avoid tokenization of minorities and other students, Yin said. Paradeis now accepting poetry, prose and visual art submissions, according to its website.

“We’re interested in how systems interlock,” Yin said. “We’re interested in white supremacy playing off with gender politics, how race and class play off each other … basically anyone who doesn’t see themselves represented in mainstream media, we’re trying to liberate their voices.”

Padidam emphasized that the magazine does not select which submissions to publish based on the subject matter they address.

“We aren’t creating any bounds for people’s identities,” she said. “No matter the topic, it’s still a way to push back against mainstream media, because it’s coming from those voices that are usually silenced.”

“We’re not policing anyone’s identity,” Yin added. “As a literary magazine, of course we want to have quality content, but first and foremost, our goal is to be a platform, so whatever narratives the people who are submitting want to tell, that’s what we want.”

Yin emphasized the importance of creating a space that does not simply tolerate or accept different identities, but actively emphasizes those perspectives.

“In general, if you look at what some people think of diversity, it’s just a way of checking off that you have someone of each identity in the room,” Yin said. “But it’s not enough to say, ‘We welcome people of all identities,’ because when you say that, you’re still allowing dominant voices to take over. This is a space where we are intentionally amplifying the voices of people who aren’t heard. Their voices are still silenced, unless you intentionally make them heard.”

Padidam said that she thinks the presence of first-years on Parade’s executive board is beneficial for the magazine's future.

“We’re going to be on campus for longer; we will have time to dedicate ourselves to this publication,” Yin added. “And of course we have upperclassmen who are helping us, who have more connections and are more experienced.”

The executive board intends to publish the first issue of Parade, which will be in the form of a shorter zine, in early April, Yin said. It hopes to publish a longer literary magazine when it receives additional funding and enough submissions. The executive board members have also created a Tumblr and Instagram to advertise the publication and are organizing a second writing workshop for March 25, according to Yin.

While the executive board members will select pieces for the magazine based on each issue’s theme, they intend to publish every submission they receive online, according to Bernoff. “Unless it’s hate speech or truly awful in some other way,” he noted.

While Padidam hopes to gain a large readership, she also thinks that Parade should primarily stick to its mission statement: “To act as a creative forum and space for people of marginalized identities to tell whatever stories they feel are worth telling.”

Yin emphasized the importance of Parade’s mission statement as the magazine moves forward. “I think success for us is defined by how people perceive our space, whether people feel we’re coming forward with what we’re trying to do," she said. "Success isn’t about how much money we get, how much advertising we get to do.  This isn’t something we’re trying to appeal to the majority, because the majority has a space on this campus.”