Muslims in Action
Empowering Expression Muslim American benefit from the Al-Talib experience and enrich their communities' voices. By Habib Hamidi
O
ne of the best kept secrets of the Muslim community is Al-Talib, (www.al-talib.org), a student-run news magazine birthed in 1990 in a 400-square-foot office at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of Student Media UCLA. Student Media UCLA, which produces one of the nation’s best campus student publications, the Daily Bruin, is home to seven community-oriented magazines, including Al-Talib, Fem, Ha’Am, La Gente, Nommo, OutWrite and Pacific Ties. Each magazine offers opportunities for students to get involved in the publishing process, and take on roles ranging from reporting, designing, to selling advertisements. Since its inception, Al-Talib has grown to success-
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fully produce more than 40,000 quarterly issues, and having as many as 3,000 paid subscribers. Al-Talib News Magazine has been Student Media UCLA’s undeniable success, outproducing and outperforming other campus magazines in terms of sheer volume and readership, as well as being the most fiscally responsible. For that reason, Al-Talib has established a positive reputation and a position of leadership among its peers,
a welcomed accomplishment not only for UCLA’s Muslim students but also for the Muslim community at large. In the last five years, Al-Talib has received the prestigious Campus Progress, (http://genprogress.org/), grant for being a top, student-driven publication in America. In these challenging times for the Muslim American community, the role of the informed, engaged and proactive student has never been more important. AlTalib’s goal is to give students the tools to become just that. Through its website, social media channels and quarterly print edition, Al-Talib strives to inform young Muslims about issues within their own communities while connecting them to broader events within American society. More importantly, because it is youth driven, the magazine has an impact on future generations by providing a platform for Muslim youth to articulate their views, experiences and perspectives on current events and issues. Al-Talib recruits dedicated, graduate and undergraduate students with an interest in writing, blogging, photography, illustration, video, business, copy editing and graphic design to become part of its team. The experience is valuable for Muslim stu-
Jumada al-Awwal 1426
Islamic Horizons November/December 2013