Abdulkadir Ali, who writes and performs as Ali Ali, is an Ethiopian immigrant, poet, performer, activist, educator, and policy analyst. He is the artistic director of Maine Inside Out, an organization that uses theater to tell the stories and educate people on incarceration. Ali was incarcerated twice as a teen and it was his involvement with this group that sparked his passion for advocacy. A pivotal moment for him was when the group was invited by Angus King’s wife, Mary Hermon, to perform for the US Senate and help shed a light on positive actions for youth reform.

While in Longcreek Youth Prison in South Portland, Ali got his GED and began college courses through University of Southern Maine. He participates in Opportunity Scholars which provides access to secondary education to formerly incarcerated young people. He works as an organizer for Maine Youth Justice and is working to address the failures of the juvenile and criminal justice system and find community-based alternatives to incarceration such as family and community support, education, and services.

Ali also works with the Young People’s Caucus which connects policy makers with young people to understand the issues important to them. He is a fellow of the Civic Community Engagement at USM, a program focused on developing leaders with in the Maine immigrant, ethnic or racial minority youth and led by Pious Ali.

It is through his poetry where Ali opens up his pain and desires for a better world.

“I love my poetry. My poetry helped build me. My poetry is pain. Sometimes my poetry is healing. Sometimes my poetry shares facts. I have about 50 or 60 poems at this point,” he said, adding, “I can’t do one thing – I like doing lots of things at once!”

Ali is sought for his input on many initiatives. Most recently he was appointed along with Pious Ali to the Portland Racial Equity Committee.