A book award, an art gallery and a marriage that lasted 25 years all belong in the story of Asake Bomani. Many readers first hear her name through actor Danny Glover, but her work offers another reason to know her. She helped bring Black artists’ work to a wider audience and shared in a recognised literary achievement. Her story connects music, books and family life, although some personal details remain outside the public record.
Personal Details of Asake Bomani
| Full name | Asake Bomani |
| Nationality | American |
| Reported date of birth | 1 July 1945 |
| Reported birthplace | Wilmington, Delaware, United States |
| Education | Reportedly studied English at San Francisco State University |
| Professional background | Author, editor, jazz singer and gallery owner |
| Notable publication | Paris Connections: African American Artists in Paris |
| Editorial collaborator | Belvie Rooks |
| Major recognition | American Book Award, 1993 |
| Former husband | Danny Glover |
| Marriage | 1975 to 2000 |
| Daughter | Mandisa Glover, born in 1976 |
| Gallery connection | Bomani Gallery in San Francisco |
| Current personal life | Limited reliable information is publicly available |
Early Life and Education
Biographical reports place her birth in Wilmington, Delaware, on 1 July 1945. These details appear in entertainment profiles, although a detailed account of her childhood is harder to find. There is little dependable information about her parents, siblings or early home life. That makes it difficult to explain exactly when her interest in music or literature began, or who first encouraged those interests.
Her connection with San Francisco is better documented. Reports describe her as an English student at San Francisco State University, where she met her future husband. Studying English fits with her later editorial work, although a specific graduation year is not clearly established in the available records.
Her Background in Jazz Singing
Before readers associated Asake Bomani with an art publication, she was known as a jazz singer. Biographical accounts of Glover identify music as part of her background. This places her within the arts before the publication that later earned literary recognition. However, the available information does not establish a full recording career, a list of albums or a detailed history of performances.
Music, gallery work and editing all appear in accounts of her life. Each gave her a different connection to the arts, through performance, exhibitions or the printed page. The public record does not explain every move between those activities. Her best-documented professional achievement came later, through her work on a publication about Black artists with connections to Paris.
Meeting Danny Glover and Getting Married
Their relationship began during their student years at San Francisco State University in the 1960s. She was studying English, while he was interested in economics. Their connection therefore began well before his name became familiar to film audiences. They had already known one another for years when they married in 1975, and their daughter arrived the following year.
In remarks from a 1992 PEOPLE interview, later reported by Hollywood Life, both spoke about their long friendship. He admired her confidence and values. She described the feeling that they had grown up together. Their comments suggest a relationship shaped by shared early experiences, long before public appearances and film premieres became part of family life.
Supporting His Early Acting Career
Asake Bomani supported Glover when he decided to take acting more seriously. Accounts of his early career describe him leaving work with San Francisco’s Model Cities programme and joining the Black Actors’ Workshop at the American Conservatory Theater. At that point, the decision meant moving away from established employment towards a profession with an uncertain future. Her encouragement formed part of that early chapter.
The success came later. His film debut was in Escape from Alcatraz in 1979, followed by larger roles during the next decade. The Color Purple and Lethal Weapon helped bring him wide recognition. Looking at those dates shows that their relationship covered the years before and during his rise. She knew him as a student and an aspiring performer before audiences knew him as a leading Hollywood actor.
Building a Family in San Francisco
The couple welcomed Mandisa Glover in 1976 and raised her in San Francisco. Family reporting places their home in the Haight-Ashbury neighbourhood. This gives their story a clear setting beyond the film industry. The city was connected to their relationship, their daughter’s childhood and Bomani’s gallery work. Their family history was rooted there even as Glover’s work took him elsewhere.
They also appeared together at public events. Photographs from the period show the couple at film premieres and award ceremonies, sometimes with their daughter. Those images offer glimpses of family life during his growing success. Her own work in the arts developed alongside the attention surrounding his films.
Asake Bomani and the Bomani Gallery
Her role as a gallery owner is an important part of her professional history. The Bomani Gallery in San Francisco was associated with the Paris Connections exhibitions in 1992. Exhibition records also name Jernigan Wicker Fine Arts as a partner venue. The project brought work connected with Black artists in Paris to audiences in California, linking an international subject with a local gallery setting.
Visitors to an exhibition need information about the artists, their work and the ideas connecting them. A catalogue can carry that information beyond the exhibition itself. In this case, the gallery project and the publication belong together. This connection helps explain her editorial focus on visual art and gives readers a clearer picture of her professional interests.
The Book Behind Her Literary Recognition
The publication most closely connected with Asake Bomani is Paris Connections: African American Artists in Paris. Library catalogues credit her and Belvie Rooks as its editors and identify Raymond Saunders as the curator. The publication dates to 1992. Calling her a co-editor gives readers a more precise description of her role than presenting the book as a novel written entirely by one person.
The title can be confusing because another related publication is called Paris Connections: African and Caribbean Artists in Paris. Smithsonian Libraries lists that volume under the same two editors, also in 1992. The records point to related exhibition publications with different subtitles. Readers researching her writing career should pay attention to those full titles. Combining them into one changing title can blur the subject of each book and make the publication history harder to follow.
What the Paris Connections Project Explored
The African American volume concerned visual artists with connections to Paris. The related African and Caribbean catalogue widened that focus to artists from other parts of the Black world. Smithsonian Libraries describes the latter as containing illustrations and text in English and French. Its summary also discusses the difficulty these artists faced in gaining attention within the wider art world, even while working in an important cultural city.
This gives readers a useful way to understand the project. It brought together artwork and information about people whose careers crossed national borders. A gallery visitor could see the work, while a reader could return to the publication afterwards. That is one reason exhibition books can remain useful after a show closes. They preserve names, images and context that might otherwise be difficult for later readers to find in one place.
Winning an American Book Award in 1993
The Before Columbus Foundation’s record of previous winners lists Asake Bomani and Belvie Rooks under 1993. The recognised work was Paris Connections: African American Artists in Paris. This is a clear professional achievement supported by an award record. It also places her literary recognition during her marriage, several years before the divorce that now appears in so many headlines about her.
The shared credit matters. The publication involved collaboration, with people contributing as editors and curators. Her place in that team remains worth recognising alongside the work of her colleagues. The award offers a firm answer to a common question about her career: she helped produce an art publication that received national literary recognition.
Her Daughter Mandisa Glover
Motherhood is another central part of Asake Bomani’s biography. Mandisa is the former couple’s only child. As an adult, she has worked in food and shared her cooking publicly. She also has a son named Adesola, making Bomani a grandmother. These family details help readers follow the generations without assuming that every member of the family chose an acting career.
Public birthday tributes have also offered glimpses of Mandisa’s affection for her mother. Reporting on those posts describes family photographs and loving messages. Such moments provide a more personal view than a film premiere photograph alone. They show a family connection through the memories and feelings her daughter has chosen to share.
Divorce After 25 Years of Marriage
Glover filed for divorce in 1999, and the marriage ended in 2000. Reports give irreconcilable differences as the reason stated in the filing. From their wedding in 1975 to the end of their marriage, the relationship covered about 25 years. This was a long period that included raising their daughter, developing careers and living through major changes in his public profile.
The reported filing does not provide a complete explanation of what happened between them. Their private conversations and the full reasons for the separation are not established by that brief phrase. What is clear is that their shared history included a long friendship, a daughter and many years together before the marriage ended.
What Is Known About Her Life Today?
Readers searching for Asake Bomani today will find more information about her earlier career and marriage than about her present routine. The sources reviewed for this profile do not establish a current partner, a recent publishing schedule or a clear account of her daily life. This lack of detail should be treated as a limit of public information, rather than proof of a particular lifestyle.
Her net worth is also unconfirmed. Available profiles do not provide verified records of her income or any divorce settlement. Her documented work, the award and the family timeline remain the strongest parts of her public biography. They offer readers clear information even though many details of her present life remain private.
Conclusion
Asake Bomani’s story includes music, gallery work, a recognised art publication and a family built over many years. Her marriage explains why many readers first search for her, while her work on Paris Connections gives them another reason to remember her name. Some personal details remain uncertain, but her editorial contribution and place in the Glover family are well documented. Together, they offer a fuller picture of the woman known as Danny Glover’s ex-wife.
(FAQ’s)
1. Who is Asake Bomani?
She is an American author, editor and former jazz singer who also ran an art gallery. She was married to actor Danny Glover.
2. What book is she known for?
She co-edited Paris Connections: African American Artists in Paris with Belvie Rooks. It was published in 1992 and received an American Book Award in 1993.
3. How long was she married to Danny Glover?
They married in 1975 and divorced in 2000, after about 25 years together as a married couple.
4. Does she have children?
Yes. She and Glover have one daughter, Mandisa, who was born in 1976. She is also a grandmother.
5. Is she married now?
The reliable sources reviewed for this profile do not confirm a later marriage. Her current relationship status should be treated as private.
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