Mohamed Tadjadit, known as “the poet of the Hirak,” became a symbol of Algeria’s 2019 pro-democracy movement. From the Casbah of Algiers, his poetry in darija reached millions, echoing calls for dignity and justice. Yet his words have come at a cost—censorship, arrests, and harassment by authorities. This article explores Tadjadit’s story, the repression of artistic freedom, and what it reveals about free expression in today’s Algeria.