Chifladazine

Cloud Cardona (she/they) explains in her interview that she served as the co-creator of Chifladazine and now manages a publication named Infrarrealista Review, which they call "an evolution of Chifladazine". Chifladazine ran from 2013 to 2018, with 1-2 editions a year focusing on Latin@ culture, feminism, and queerness.

"Chiflada" is the singular feminine form of a word that could be interpreted as "crazy" or "mad" in Spanish, so the name Chifladazine could be translated as "crazy magazine" in English. Additionally, "Latin@" is a gender-inclusive term used to describe anyone of Latin American origin, utilizing the handy @ symbol to combine the "o" and "a" endings of Latino/Latina. Lastly, "infrarrealista" is Spanish for infrarealist, which is someone associated with the infrarealism movement. Cloud refers to this movement in her interview, as she references Roberto Bolaño, who was a prominent poet involved in this literary and artistic movement in Mexico.

Cloud emphasizes the importance of the archives in their interview, and how she hopes her work helps her community tell their stories, as the histories of marginalized communities are often those that are forgotten. As a way to honor her Texan, Latin@, San Antonian, queer, and feminist legacy, Cloud hopes to be remembered by their poetry, and especially their wish to uplift others' creative work.

You can read a snippet of Cloud's interview transcription below.

Cloud is one of many examples of how threads of revolution can blossom in small, tight-knit communities. Whether it is the zine community, the Latin@ community, the queer community, the San Antonio community, or the broader Texan community, Cloud makes sure to uplift her people and push them to publish their beautiful written work and artwork. 

Whether it's something as simple as a panaderia, as Ariana Ortiz writes in this entry of Chifladazine, there are reminders of our communities everywhere; these serve as reminders of our resilience, determination, and motivation to make sure our culture and identity are heard.