about.

bio.

Azmera Hammouri-Davis is an American poet, rapper, musician, speaker and lived theologian from Kea‘au, Hawai‘i. An interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner, she integrates the arts, theology, cultural studies, and public health frameworks to advance healing-centered approaches to justice, safety, and community well-being.

The granddaughter of a refugee from Hebron, Palestine, Azmera’s work is grounded in diasporic memory, resilience, and global consciousness. She is the author of Breaking the Boxes: Poems for Keeping Hope Alive When Your Faith is Fractured and a contributing writer to The Cross and the Olive Tree (Orbis Books, 2025). Her writing has appeared in outlets including Ms. Magazine, Mondoweiss, Sojourners, Insight News, and Falastine Magazine, and has been translated into eight languages.

A Fulbright Performing Arts Scholar, Azmera has conducted creative and cultural fieldwork in Brazil (Salvador, Bahia), Palestine, and across the United States. Her scholarship and artistic practice explore how poetry, music, Capoeira, and embodied cultural expression can disrupt cycles of trauma and restore dignity in communities impacted by systemic harm. Her work is informed by womanist theology, hip-hop studies, cultural studies, and diaspora identity, positioning creative practice as central to healing, prevention, and collective transformation.

Azmera is the founder of the Break The Boxes movement and creator of the Capoethic Method, an innovative framework that integrates Capoeira, poetry, and ethics to support personal, organizational, and community development. She co-directs the Justice Serving Network at Public Works Alliance, where she builds the capacity of community-based organizations serving youth and families impacted by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through strategic design, collaborative learning, and healing-centered engagement.

A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Southern California, Azmera also consults nationally and internationally with faith-based, cultural, and public sector organizations seeking to reimagine public health and safety through creativity, culture, and collective care. Her artistic work includes the album Young Spirit Old Soul (2023), the EP Az-a-Mirror (2024), multiple collaborative projects, and directed music video productions, leading to international performances and speaking engagements in cities including New York, London, and San Diego Comic-Con, as well as recognition as a CBS Mornings semifinalist.

Across her scholarship, creative production, and applied practice, Azmera advances a unified vision: that the healing arts are not supplemental, but foundational to public health, community safety, and social transformation.