Afemo Omilami (Kenneth Lee)

Peabody High, Petersburg (1969)

Actor

Among his activities at Peabody High, Mr. Omilami played football and was a member of the Drama Club, igniting his interest in acting. In the community, he worked with the NAACP and helped with voter registration. He attended Morehouse College as a political science major and later attended the New York University School of Drama. Over his long career as a character actor he has appeared in films such as Trading Places (1983), Glory (1989), The Firm (1993), Forest Gump (1994), Remember the Titans (2000), Ray (2004), The Blind Side (2009) and Hidden Figures (2016). He had a recurring role in the television drama In the Heat of the Night (1989-1993). At the 2013 NAACP Image Awards he was nominated for Best Actor in a Television Movie for his role in the Lifetime Network’s production of Steel Magnolias. Currently living in Atlanta, GA, Mr. Omilami is very involved with the nonprofit organization Hosea Helps which was founded by his father-in-law, the late Reverend Hosea Williams. This is one of Atlanta’s largest social services organizations for the poor and hungry. In 2018, at Morehouse College’s Ray Charles Performing Arts Center, Mr. Omilami received the BlackManCan Legacy Award for “embodying the definition of a positive black male image.”