Elisabeth Williams-Omilami | |
|---|---|
 Williams-Omilami, 2011. | |
| Born | Elisabeth Williams February 18, 1952[1] Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Other names |
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| Occupations |
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| Organization(s) | Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless (Director) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Hosea Williams Juanita Terry Williams |
| Family | Yolanda E Favours (Daughter) Porsha Williams (Niece) |
Elisabeth Williams-Omilami (born February 18, 1951) is an American human rights activist and an actress.
Born in Atlanta, Williams-Omilami is the daughter of activist Hosea Williams and Georgia State Representative Juanita T. Williams. Williams-Omilami young life was spent with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.[2] 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 Williams-Omilami's journey to New York City when her husband Afemo Omilami received a scholarship to New York University. In New York, Williams-Omilami worked as an arts administrator and executive assistant.[where?] Williams-Omilami directed and acted as much as she could, supporting her family as her husband's career grew. In 1985, Williams-Omilami left New York to return to Atlanta.[citation needed] While in Atlanta Williams-Omilami continued to perform on stage and in film and television.[citation needed] Williams-Omilami graduated from Hampton University with a BA in Theatre.[1]
Williams-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, Williams-Omilami attended boarding school to Wasatch Academy in Utah where she was the only African-American student.[citation needed] Williams-Omilami had worked for over 15 years in the background of her father's Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless efforts,[3][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] Williams-Omilami 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. Williams-Omilami 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] Williams-Omilami 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]
Williams-Omilami has been acknowledged many times for her humanitarian service.[citation needed] Honorary membership induction into Zeta Phi Beta sorority,[4] 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]
Williams-Omilami founded of one of Atlanta's earliest theatre companies People's Survival Theater,[1] as well as the "Summer Artscamp", providing arts programming for economically challenged youth for over 7 years.[citation needed] Williams-Omilami is a playwright has written several plays, one of which is There Is A River In My Soul.[1] She is a past member of both the Georgia Council For The Arts[1] and the Fulton County Arts Council[1] 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,[1] In the Heat of the Night[citation needed] and the award-winning I'll Fly Away.[1]
