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#WhoAmI: Finding myself - Amin, Germany

October 18, 2014

Raised in Cologne, Amin used to struggle with the question: ‘Who Am I?’ The people he met would focus only on his Egyptian heritage and Muslim faith. But these days he knows who he is: he’s German.

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Protagonisten von Life Links Folge #WhoAmI
Image: DW/Life Links

#WhoAmI: Finding myself - Amin, Germany

Amin’s parents are Egyptian. But Amin is German and has a German passport. He gets very annoyed when people ask him where he is “really” from. For Amin, home isn’t where you live - it’s in your heart and mind. Having grown up in a close-knit neighborhood in Cologne, he knows the importance of getting out there and searching for an identity of his own.

After 9/11, Amin faced difficulties because of what he believed in. He felt he had to constantly justify his faith and emphasize that, despite the negative connotations now attached to it, Islam is still a peaceful religion. Today, he is an advocator for mutual respect and teaches young Germans to express themselves through rap music. “It’s all good as long as I don't hear you say that you can't do it,” he told the young artists during #WhoAmI.