Farooq Ameen Al-Said, is an award winning, Emmy nominated Artivist (artist/activist) from Toronto, Canada, residing in Pittsburgh, Pa. He has gone from a once incarcerated individual to K-8 classroom teacher and now serves as Director Of Operations for the national Arts & Activism collective, 1Hood Media. An MC, songwriter and educator, Farooq, professionally known as “Said” has seen success in both mediums. After a major label deal and success in the “blog era” of rap, he turned his attention to education and activism. With a pedagogy that sits in the intersection of arts, education and social justice, Farooq has spoken globally, even teaching a course of equity in education at the University of Sydney, Australia.