Omar Tariq Bird

Education: MA & PhD Candidate in Sociology at University of Hawaii at Manoa

Recent projects include: Freedom Reads

Personal interests include: Playing basketball and video games; spending time with my best friend and partner Noreen Kohl (and my wonderful kids Pearl and Huey); reading, writing, and hanging out with friends

Omar Bird is a doctoral student in the Sociology Department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has been lead data analyst and evaluation researcher on several social justice oriented projects and policy initiatives focusing on the social impact of the growing criminal legal system, social determinants of health, and healthcare policy.

Omar dedicates his career, teaching and personal life to bringing an end to racism and systems of oppression as well as improving the social conditions and well-being for underrepresented individuals and communities. His dissertation work investigates the role of racism and capitalism and its relationship with the social determinants of health between and within Black and White Americans from adolescence through the transition to adulthood.

As a critical public sociologist, Omar is also a co-host of a podcast titled The Social Breakdown, which is aimed at providing the public with up-to-date information on current events and issues within sociology in everyday language.