Oronike Odeleye
Oronike Odeleye | |
|---|---|
 Odeleye in 2018 for the ArtsATL Kindle Award | |
| Born | Washington, D.C. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Arts consultant, activist |
| Known for | Mute R. Kelly co-founder |
Oronike Odeleye (born 1979/1980)[1] is an American arts consultant and activist based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is best known as the co-creator of the #MuteRKelly movement.[2]
Life and career
[edit]Odeleye was born in Washington, D.C. and moved to Atlanta, Georgia at the age of three, where she grew up.[3][4] Her father, an African-American sculptor, spent time in Nigeria after completing college and selected her first name from a list bestowed upon him by a Nigerian elder. She received her bachelor's degree in film studies from Syracuse University.[5] Odeleye is an Atlanta-based arts and entertainment consultant.[6]
In 2017, after allegations that singer R. Kelly was maintaining a sex cult involving young black women, Odeleye created a petition to ban Kelly's music from Atlanta radio stations.[7][8] Soon after, Kenyette Tisha Barnes reached out to Odeleye to invite her to collaborate on the creation of a grassroots digital campaign to boycott his music, which became #MuteRKelly.[9] Odeleye also appeared in the 2019 documentary series Surviving R. Kelly to discuss the campaign.[10][11]
In November 2022, Odeleye became the artistic director of the National Black Arts Festival. She had previously served as the festival director for "One Musicfest".[4] One of her major goals was to build a funding model not as susceptible to changing priorities of funders while also advocating for Black art and the Black community itself.[4]
Accolades
[edit]- The Root 100, The Root (2019)[1]
- Activist Impact Award, Breakthrough Inspiration Awards (2019)[12]
- Visionary Award, Resilience (2019)[7]
- OkayAfrica's 100 Women, OkayAfrica (2019)[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Oronike Odeleye". The Root. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (2018-05-07). "#MuteRKelly Co-Founder On The Moment, Her Movement And Its Momentum". Houston Public Media. NPR. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Jabali, Malaika (2019-03-28). "To the Girls With Heavy Names". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ a b c Farmer, Jim (2022-11-22). "New Artistic Director has Vision for National Black Arts Festival". The Atlanta Constitution. p. C1.
- ^ "Evening of Impact 2019: Resilience". www.ourresilience.org. Archived from the original on 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ "'He's been doing this forever': Atlanta creative consultant says time's up for R. Kelly". CBC Radio. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ^ a b Mitchell, Mary (2019-05-30). "Creators of #MuteRKelly honored in Chicago, urge vigilance in cases singer faces". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Goodman, Amy (2019-01-07). ""Surviving R. Kelly" Documents Decades of Abuse of Black Girls". Truthout. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ "#MuteRKelly Co-Founder: 'We Have to Let Him Go'". PAPER. 2019-01-16. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Ho, Rodney (2019-01-18). "R. Kelly has disappeared off the radio airwaves - including Atlanta R&B stations". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Odeleye, Oronike (2018-05-03). "The Cofounder of #MuteRKelly on Where the Hashtag Goes Next". Glamour. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Adams, Char (2019-05-21). "Meet The Unsung Heroes of the #MeToo Movement: 'It's Powerful to Be Honored'". PEOPLE.com. People (magazine). Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ "Oronike Odeleye". OKAYAFRICA's 100 WOMEN. Archived from the original on 2021-05-23. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
External links
[edit]- Oronike Odoleye on Twitter
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