NOMMO newsmagazine is UCLA’s historically Black student publication. It draws its name from the Ki-Swahili term Nommo, which means the magical power of the word. First printed in 1968, NOMMO joined Student Media in 1969 to become the first ethnic student run publication on a college campus in the United States.

In today’s often confusing and certainly tumultuous societal environment the most obvious fundamental ingredient toward reason, understanding, and progress is improved communication of thoughts and realities. In that sense, NOMMO is multipurpose and multifunctional. It fills a deep gap: it helps Black students identify and clarify a vast array of attitudes and goals, and it is an invaluable step toward wider communication between Black students and the campus community and the community-at-large. The world that the news media offers to their Black audiences is almost totally white in both appearance and attitude, save for the moments where Black death enters as a spectacle. In response, NOMMO seeks to give currency to the expression of Black power for Black people through the power of the written word.

In 1963 James Baldwin aptly noted, “The future of the Negro in this country is precisely as bright or as dark as the future of the country.” NOMMO prioritizes the Black community in order to shine light on the issues that reverberate throughout society. It is a beacon that seeks to find and report the truth.