A former President of the African Literature Association (2014-2015), Olaniyan has approximately 35 of his works in over 100 publications, and all in one language.
[2] Sandra Smith Isidore, a former member of the Black Panther Party, became Olaniyan's mentor and introduced him to the history, the ideology, and the personalities of the Civil Rights Movement.
[3] Olaniyan's main interests were: Africa and its diaspora; African-American, Caribbean, and African literatures; criticism, post-cultural studies, history, theory and the sociology of drama; and pop culture (art, music, and architecture).
: Fela and His Rebel Art and Politics (2004, 2009; nominated for Best Research in World Music by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections in 2005) and Scars of Conquest/Masks of Resistance: The Invention of Cultural Identities in African, African American and Caribbean Drama (1995).
He stated, "My deep interest is transdisciplinary teaching and research; my goal is the cultivation of critical self-reflexivity about our expressions and their many contexts.
The article begins with a quote from Eddie Murphy who basically says the white majority has created a system in which powerful black men feel the need to whisper 'white' in their own office.
He then discusses how Coming To America freezes African culture in a "one-dimensional frame" whereas Do the Right Thing gives its audience an unexpected and unapologetic view.