My name is Ibrahem Hasan. I’m a Palestinian-American artist based in New York. I made Love Is Why to raise money to purchase laptops for the Brooklyn Democracy Academy. BDA is a transfer high school for over-age and under-credited students in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Earlier this year, the students of BDA lost their beloved principal Dez-Ann Romain to COVID-19. She was 36. I hope to make this year a little easier for these students; I see their potential, and I want to see them win. Working with BDA’s Dean, Doyle LaShawn, we will distribute the laptops to the students. As the school has been shut down due to the pandemic, these laptops are a step towards the accessible education Dez-Ann Romain dedicated herself to.

The book is a 512 page non-linear experimental storytelling piece: A thank you to my childhood mentors, four black gentlemen I met on Maxwell Street, and Malcolm X. The book is the visualization of their teachings, and the conversations I had with them growing up on the South Side of Chicago— It includes my photography and art alongside contributions from photographers, artists, and writers I respect and love. All powered by Black voices.

ib@ibrahasan.com

Writers Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman Amiri Rose Angela Y. Davis Andrew Goodman Arin Maya Lawrence Eddie Glaude Gary Bartz Horace Tapscott Hajji Ibrahim Al Matin Isaac Perry Jamelliah Ali John Lewis Jon Gray James Boggs Kimberly Latrice Jones Leila Khaled Malcolm X (Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) Prodigy Rodan Tekle Sonia Sanchez Sun Ra Photography Anthony Prince Leslie Anthony Bryant Artesha L. Welch Ibrahem Hasan Julian Alexander Marcus Smith Myesha Evon Gardner Sue Kwon Silka Art Ain Eccles Ali Muhammed Darien Birks Derek Roberts Ibrahem Hasan Jacob Rochester Julian Adon Alexander Joaquin Estaban Jutt Khaliente Kai Avent-deLeon Law Degree Mark Thomas Gibson Menelik Lee Namik Schwartz Paris Agamemnonos Paula Affrekka Jefferson Ray Butts Reginald Jolley Sajjad Musa Public Domain...