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There are many ways to tell our stories, to respond to discrimination in an Italy that still considers itself “white.” Rap is a global storytelling language that reaches from the Bronx to the peripheries of the world. It is an activist tool, accessible to all, that works to liberate us from stereotypes and prejudices, to clarify issues of identity and citizenship, and to make change. It is a therapeutic tool that helps us to work through anger, frustration, and personal family traumas. And it is an inclusive pedagogical voice in struggles for justice and equality.

Amir Issaa is an internationally renowned Italo-Egyptian hip-hop artist and a passionate social activist and educator. As part of his activist work, Amir regularly holds rap writing workshops in schools, prisons, and colleges throughout the world. Vivo per questo (in a bilingual translation with SDSU Press, This is What I Live For https://sdsupress.sdsu.edu/amirISSAA_preorder.html) is Amir’s personal and artistic autobiography and a testament to the challenges and imagination of second generation immigrants in Italy. His second book, EducazioneRap (2021), looks at rap as a poetic linguistic exercise as well as a shared experience of social impact across borders.