Elisabeth Omilami
| Elisabeth Williams-Omilami | |
|---|---|
| File:Elisabeth Olimali 2011-01-19.JPG | |
| Born | Elisabeth Williams February 18, 1951 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Other names | Elisabeth Omilami, Elizabeth Omilami, Elisabeth Williams-Omilami |
| Occupation | Director of Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless |
| Organization | Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless |
| Spouse(s) | Afemo Omilami |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Hosea Williams and Juanita T. Williams |
Elisabeth Williams-Omilami (born February 18, 1951) is an African-American human rights activist and an actress.
Life and career
She was born in Atlanta, the daughter of activist Hosea Williams and State Representative Juanita T. Williams. Her young life was spent with the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. After graduating from college she created the People's Survival Theatre, producing a season of five shows per year.[citation needed] People's Survival Theatre continued to produce shows long after Elisabeth's journey to New York City when her husband Afemo Omilami received a scholarship to New York University. In New York, Elisabeth worked as an arts administrator and executive assistant.[where?] She directed and acted as much as she could, supporting her family as her husband's career grew. In 1985 she left New York to return to Atlanta.[citation needed] While in Atlanta she continued to perform on stage and in film and television.[citation needed] Omilami graduated from Hampton University with a BA in Theatre.[citation needed]
Activism
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Omilami's parents brought her along on Civil Rights marches and movements across the South since she was young. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Omilami attended boarding school to Wasatch Academy in Utah where she was the only black student.[citation needed]
Omilami had worked for over 15 years in the background of her father's Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless efforts,[1] and upon his passing in November 2000 became the organization's CEO, expanding the organization from a budget of $200,000 to over $1.5 million.[citation needed] She worked to provide programs that would meet the basic needs of the working poor and homeless along a continuum of care leading to self-sufficiency. She expanded these programs from four months to year-round services and established medical clinics, clothing distribution, barber and beautician services, children's educational programs, and home delivery of over 22,000 dinners per year.[citation needed] She has spoken and toured worldwide for several international relief efforts in places like the Philippines, where she has founded and operates a school for the underprivileged children of Mindanou,[citation needed] and Haiti and Uganda, where she sponsors several orphanages.[citation needed]
Omilami has been acknowledged many times for her humanitarian service.[citation needed] Honorary membership induction into Zeta Phi Beta sorority,[2] A Georgia State Senate Resolution in recognition of her community service,[citation needed] Atlanta Business League 100 Women of Influence,[citation needed] For Sisters Only,[citation needed] Women In Film Humanitarian Award,[citation needed] Secretary of State of Georgia Outstanding Citizen,[citation needed] State of Georgia Goodwill Ambassador,[citation needed] YWCA Women of Achievement Academy,[citation needed] Burger King Urban Everyday Heroes,[citation needed] Kraft Community Service;[citation needed] Southern Christian Leadership Conference Women Drum Major for Justice,[citation needed] T. D. Jakes Phenomenal Woman,[citation needed] Daughters of Isis Community Service Award,[citation needed] the Emory University M.L.K. Community Service Award[citation needed] and The National Conference of Black Mayors Fannie Lou Hamer Unsung Heroine Award.[citation needed]
Theatre and film
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Omilami founded of one of Atlanta's earliest theatre companies People's Survival Theater,[citation needed] as well as the "Summer Artscamp", providing arts programming for economically challenged youth for over 7 years.[citation needed] She is a playwright has written several plays, one of which is There Is A River In My Soul.[citation needed] She is a past member of both the Georgia Council For The Arts[citation needed] and the Fulton County Arts Council[citation needed] and is a passionate advocate for the arts to be instituted as permanent part of society.[citation needed] She is an actress and has performed at the Alliance Theatre in A Christmas Carol and in early 2002 in Left Hand Singing at the Jewish Theatre of The South.[citation needed] She can also be seen in the HBO made-for-television movie Boycott[citation needed], In the Heat of the Night[citation needed] and the award-winning I'll Fly Away.[citation needed]
References
External links
- Atlanta Women's Network. (2006). About Elisabeth Omilami. Retrieved 2007-06-12 from http://www.atlantawomensnetwork.org/Speakers/06JulyElisabethOmilami.html
- Elisabeth Omilami at the Internet Movie Database
- Official Website of Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages using infobox person with unknown parameters
- Infobox person using religion
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2016
- Vague or ambiguous geographic scope from February 2016
- 1951 births
- African-American actresses
- Activists for African-American civil rights
- American activists
- American dramatists and playwrights
- American film actresses
- American humanitarians
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- Living people
- Actresses from Atlanta, Georgia
- Women activists
- 21st-century American actresses
- 20th-century American actresses
