By Gilbert Gutierrez III
Published: November 30, 2009

By Gilbert Gutierrez III
Daily Titan Staff Writer

After graduating from Cal State Fullerton in the spring 2008, former Daily Titan Assistant News Editor Urmi Rahman, 26, found it very difficult to find a job. To fill the void in her life, she focused on her independent news e-magazine, MinorityDreams.com.

The weekly online magazine was launched Nov. 3, 2008, the day before Barack Obama was elected president, and it celebrated its first year of production earlier last month.

Rahman and other members of her family have been waiting for the government to file their documents for citizenship, forcing her to delay her career as a journalist for a newspaper. Rahman was not ready to sit back and do nothing; she still had the need to write.

“I needed to do something to keep positive and productive at the same time,” Rahman said.

It started out with just a simple article about the 2008 presidential election and which direction immigrants would go if they were legally able to vote. Now Minority Dreams is staffed with 10 writers and has an accredited internship program through CSUF.

The magazine has attracted a lot of writers from different backgrounds, said Hussain “Ali” Subzwari, 29, co-founder and design manager for Minority Dreams and Rahman’s husband.

Part time CSUF student Jennifer Karmarkar, 50, writes for the e-magazine.

“I’ve always enjoyed writing, and when I decided to major in print journalism, I wasn’t exactly sure where it would lead me professionally. But now I’m having so much fun that I’m going to take it as far as I can and see what happens,” Karmarkar said.

Karmarkar commented on Rahman’s efforts with the Web site. “Urmi is a very talented and hard working individual, and if anybody can make a success of a start-up e-zine, she can.”

The magazine doesn’t run on any monetary funds, and none of the writers or contributors are paid.

“Not being able to work in a country where you’ve lived in for so long, after you have graduated and see other people with lesser backgrounds being able to progress on with their lives (is difficult), as far as work is concerned. This magazine, I think, has helped (Rahman) in that fashion, just to be able to say that I have something to hold onto. She has something that she can call her own,” Subzwari said about the experience that his wife has gained after not being legally allowed to work in the U.S.

The magazine focuses on issues relating to people who are misrepresented or that do not have certain rights, capturing their thoughts and bringing them into the spotlight for Americans to see.

The site could possibly become more of a user-generated magazine, where much of the content would stand alongside the content provided by the reporters.

“There’s a lot of minorities out there that want their voice heard without it being censored,” Subzwari said.

Another idea they may use is to have the writer provide their own perspective about the topic they write about.

CSUF alumnus Abrahim Appel, 31, has a bachelor’s degree in Afro-Ethnic and American Indian studies and is one of the most dedicated writers of Minority Dreams, Rahman said.

He holds two part-time jobs and has also published a number of stories for the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register but said that Minority Dreams is the best publication that he has had the privilege to work for.

“Allowing what we call the minority voice to be respected so equally is where journalism has to go for it to be everything that it claims to be,” Appel said. “When your editors talk about being objective, being involved, the place that has perfected that the most has been Minority Dreams.”

The online magazine looks to recruit more writers through their 10-week internship program.

Interns will be writing about current events and blogging for the site. For more information, visit the Career Center and ask about Minority Dreams as a future internship assignment.