Syrian American hip-hop artist, poet, and peace activist Omar Offendum discusses hip-hop as history and education with Thomas E.R. Maguire, Associate Director of the University of Chicago Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES). Omar tells the story behind his recent Little Syria project and addresses his experience as Citizen Artist Fellow at the Kennedy Center, the bilingual nature of his work, and his collaborations with the Arab American National Museum, Chicago Public Schools, and CMES K-12 Arabic outreach programs. This episode was produced by Nora Kane.

Views and opinions expressed in the episode are the participants’ own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Chicago Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

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Check out songs featured in this episode:

Visit Omar online at www.omaroffendum.com and on Twitter @offendum for more music!

For more information about the Arab diaspora in the U.S., check out these resources:

• Arab-American National Museum
• Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, N.C. State University