Omar Offendum’s University of Michigan residency culminates with a work-in-progress performance. Set amidst the backdrop of the fabled Little Syria neighborhood in NYC (1880-1940), this unique performance project bridges hip-hop & live Arabic instrumentation with the time-honored “Hakawati” storytelling traditions of the Levant. Offendum (Syria via LA) is joined by oud virtuoso Ronnie Malley (Palestine via Chicago) and DJ/beatmaker Thanks Joey (Syria via Brooklyn), to uncover what life in the heart of Arab-America was like over a century ago, while informing much of what is happening today in terms of immigration, xenophobia, Syria, and the ever-evolving notion of an “American dream.”