New Magazine Launches

The Columbia campus will have a new addition to its already large and diverse reading list this fall.

The Proxy, a new magazine, plans to offer 40 pages in full color featuring literature, poetry, opinion, and art relating to the African diaspora.

Keondra Prier, BC '08, launched the magazine hoping to give voice to African-related minorities. She said she hopes The Proxy will act as a social commentary on issues facing minorities today while informing the community and bringing different groups together in the process.

"People in Harlem, let's say, are going to have a different perspective on minority problems today. ... So I just wanted to give them the college students' perspective," Prier said.

"This whole magazine is a kind of vague idea so far, but hopefully very powerful," she added. "The magazine's goal is to bring together different groups around the campus and give them a forum of discussion."

Prier got the idea of starting the magazine during a Black Students Organization meeting last year, where they were discussing the bias incidents that occurred on campus.

"I thought that a lot of people had a lot to say, but none of their ideas were printed on paper, and it really didn't fit into any of the existing magazines' topics," Prier said. "So I thought, why not just create a magazine?"

After a summer of working on layouts and ideas by herself, Prier recruited staff members who were interested in the topic. There are 26 staff members working on the first issue. Even though funding has been scarce so far, Prier has nevertheless pressed on with ideas and articles.

"The theme of the first issue will be 'anomaly,'" Prier said. "A lot of the minority groups originally from Africa look completely different, depending on if you're from United States, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, or Asia."

"Our goal is to give voice to African diaspora but not define it," said Leilah Mooney, BC '09, one of the 12 editors. "It's really intriguing and it's something missing on campus."