We Discussed the Design of Fashionable Muslim Women Website

This is part 12. In previous essays, I explained how I put together a photography crew to take pictures of happy and fashionable Muslims during the Eid al Fitr celebration at the Marriot Hotel in Madison, WI, in 2014.

Nick delivered the photos on time. In mid-August of 2013, I had 79 high-quality photos of Muslim women dressed exquisitely for Eid al Fitr. “Now what?” I thought. What was I supposed to do with those photos?

In part seven of this series, I explained that I was a journalist up until that moment. My editors would send me to different places to talk to people, gather information, and understand situations. I would then come back to the newsroom to write about what I’d seen, in a way to journal my observation.

I sometimes pitched stories to my editors, or I went after subjects that interested me.

But now, for the first time, I was doing something more than just filing a story. I wasn’t sure what it was that I was doing. However, I somehow instinctively knew the next step.

I needed to post the photos that Nick delivered, online.

“I don’t know what exactly to do with the photos I have,” I told Lisa, my friend who introduced me to Here on Earth, Radio Without Borders at Wisconsin Public Radio, WPR, a few months ago. Lisa managed a section of WPR’s websites.

“I want someone to create a website for me. I don’t know anyone,” I said. “Do you know Laura?” she asked. “No. Who is she?” I replied. “She joined WPR a few months ago. She is so good with websites and stuff. She designed the city’s traffic site for them. I heard that she does freelance work. You should go talk to her. She might be able to help you,” Lisa said.

The same afternoon I needed to pick up music for the program we were producing the day after. I went to the sound producer’s office at the station to talk with him about the music. He was chatting with a white, blond, medium-height girl. I waited for him at his door to finish his conversation. He turned in my direction to acknowledge my presence.

“Hi,” I said. “Oh, hi Sara. Please meet Laura. She is one of our developers for WPR’s website.”

My eyes got bigger than the pots in my kitchen. I was so happy to run into Laura. “Sara is our intern at the Here on Earth show,” the sound producer said. “I heard about you.” I turned to Laura with the biggest smile I could offer. “I heard about the magic you created with the city’s traffic website. That’s fantastic,” I said and offered my hand to shake hers. I think I shook her hand more enthusiastically than expected. “I would like to chat with you about a project. I can stop by your office today if you are available?” I asked. “I’m leaving in a few minutes. Why don’t you send me an email?” she said.

“Yeah, sure. I’ve been interning here for about nine months,” I replied, guessing her doubt.  “What’s your last name?” I asked. “Libermann. Let me write it down for you.” Laura grabbed a Post-it note from the desk and wrote her last name for me.

I left the sound producer’s office after we decided on the music we needed to play for the show the next day.

Back at my desk, I emailed Laura.

We met at a cozy coffee shop right across from the large, white WPR building, the house for the University of Wisconsin Communication program, Wisconsin Public TV, and the radio station itself.

“I want a website for a photo project I finished last week,” I told Laura. “Something simple and easy to navigate,” I said. Then, I explained the photo shoot event. “I was at the Eid al-Fitr prayer last year. I was so angry to see no media coverage of such a big event of Muslims gathering to celebrate and be happy. But if it was a terrorist attack or anything negative toward Muslims, we were all over the place to cover the “terrorists,” in this case, Muslims,” I explained. “I decided to show the happiness and social life of Muslims. I’m focusing on women.”

It didn’t take long for Laura to answer. “Sure, no problem. I can help you with creating a website,” she said. “Do you know what you want?” she asked. “Not really,” I replied. “What I know is that I want a simple and easy-to-navigate site for people to see the photos and read the content,” I said. “Sure. I think I can get it ready for you by this weekend at the latest,” Laura said.

“Oh, that’s wonderful. How much would you charge?” I asked. “Nothing,” she replied. “What?” I said with a pleasant surprise. “You are not making money out of this. And the whole work would be just a couple of hours for me. I don’t want to charge you. Besides, I’m glad you are talking about the media bigotry against minority groups,” she said. “Oh, Laura, thank you very much. You are an angel. I really appreciate it,” I said. “Sure, no problem,” she replied. “What’s the name of the website?” she asked. “Fashionable Muslim Women of Eid al Fitr.”

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