Omowale Akintunde

Dr. Omowale Akintunde is renown as a public intellectual, academician, and Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. The critically acclaimed writer/producer/director is a graduate of the conservatory program in filmmaking at the New York Film Academy. His first feature film, "An Inaugural Ride to Freedom," won the 2010 Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for Best Documentary-Cultural. His very first short film, "Mama 'n 'Em" (2008) was accepted into the prestigious Hollywood Black Filmmakers Festival and his narrative feature film debut, "Wigger," premiered in April of 2010 to an overflow crowd and rave reviews. Leo Adam Biga, film reviewer for The Reader described the film as, "Dramatic, smart, funny, raw, and real," then went on to say that Omaha "has now produced two of cinema's best works on the subject of race as Wigger join's 1967's "A Time for Burning.'" Dr. Akintunde is an Associate Professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is well published in the areas of education, race, and diversity. He received the Bachelor of Science and Master of Music Education degrees from Alabama State University and the Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and African American Studies from the University of Missouri. His other research interests include Hip-Hop culture, gender studies, and epistemology. In demand as a lecturer worldwide, his national television appearances include the "Crier Report" with Catherine Crier on the Fox News Network and the "Morning News" on MSNBC. His written publications include "Multiculturalism and the Teacher Education Experience: Essays on Race, Class, and Culture" and a children's book " The Adventures of Darrell the invincible Man."