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Isaka Shamsud-Din was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1940, to Isaac Allen and Geneva Allen. He became an artist, educator, and activist, working for much of his career in Portland, Oregon. His work focuses on the experiences and histories of African Americans and peoples of the African diaspora. Shamsud-Din first lived in the Portland area in 1947, when his family moved to Vanport, Oregon. After the flood that destroyed Vanport in 1948, his family briefly moved to Ohio, but then returned to Portland. He began studying art as a teenager, attending the Museum Art School in Portland and the University of Kansas. He also studied art at Portland State University, and during that time, he painted his first murals. During the 1960s, he became involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Arkansas. He later returned to education as a teacher, first at San Francisco State University in California, and also at Portland State University. His work during the time period of 1966 to 1976 was done under the name Isaac X. Nommo. He served as artist-in-residence at Reed College, and held the same role at several other educational institutions throughout the 1970s. He also served as director of the Albina Mural Project in Portland. In the 1990s, he returned to PSU as a student, earning a bachelor's degree in 1999 and then a master's degree in 2001.