Arts and Culture

Leader of Smithsonian’s African American Museum to Direct Entire Institution

Published

7 years ago

May 30, 2019

Heralded for the success of the museum he led from idea to fruition, Lonnie G. Bunch III is the first African American to lead the Smithsonian Institution.

Lonnie G. Bunch III, the museum leader who opened the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to critical applause and huge crowds, will serve as the next secretary of the entire Smithsonian, its most senior position.

Bunch, 66, will be the first historian and the first African American to oversee the Smithsonian’s 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and research centers. He will take over on June 16, the Smithsonian announced Tuesday.

Mr. Bunch, who began his career in 1978 at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, said in an interview that, as the Smithsonians’s 14th secretary, he hoped to figure out how to make the institution “more effective in the digital space” so that it could reach a broader audience than those who might have the time to visit Washington.

“I want to help it transform America,” he said.

As founding director of the African-American museum, Mr. Bunch led a decade-long effort to create a space that would recognize the achievements of Black Americans, as well as the horrors of slavery and the struggle for civil rights. It fittingly opened on the National Mall in September 2016 at a ceremony at which President Barack Obama spoke.

“Lonnie Bunch guided, from concept to completion, the complex effort to build the premier museum celebrating African American achievements,” John G. Roberts Jr., Smithsonian chancellor and the chief justice of the United States, said in a statement. “I look forward to working with him as we approach the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary, to increase its relevance and role as a beloved American institution and public trust.”

When Mr. Bunch joined the National Museum of African American History in 2005, he faced an uphill task: constructing a new museum from scratch, working with Congress to fund the museum, attracting big name donors and building a collection from nothing.

The result was a new public museum at the heart of Washington’s cultural landscape designed by the Tanzanian-born architect David Adjaye to evoke a crown motif from ancient Yoruban sculpture, or alternatively women’s hands lifted to the sky in prayer.

From the beginning, Mr. Bunch insisted he did not want to create a public space for a black audience only, but for all Americans. The African-American story, he said, was an American story, as central to the country’s narrative as any other, and understanding black history and culture is essential to understanding American history and culture.

Mr. Bunch said that he is open to the changes a successor might make at the museum he founded, but that one thing should not change: the mission of its being a museum that perceives its audience as all Americans. “That is the most important of all that we have done,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Smithsonian said the distinctive museum he had helped bring into being had gathered a collection of 40,000 objects and attracted 4 million visitors since it opened.

Many of the objects gathered by Mr. Bunch’s team were treasures donated by ordinary people. It ran an “Antiques Roadshow”-style project in 15 cities that encouraged people to give heirlooms from their closets and attics.

He was appointed to the secretary position following a search by an 11-member committee led by David Rubenstein, chairman of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, and Steve Case, its vice chairman.

Mr. Bunch replaces David J. Skorton, a cardiologist and former president of Cornell, who announced in December he was leaving his position to return to the world of health care and medicine as head of a nonprofit organization. He had served as secretary since July 2015.

Dr. Skorton had succeeded G. Wayne Clough, another former university president, who had led the Smithsonian for seven years.

Graham Bowley, The New York Times

Posts by Graham Bowley, The New York Times

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Activism

Essay: Intentional Self Care and Community Connections Can Improve Our Wellbeing

At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

By Dr. Lorraine Bonner, Special to California Black Media Partners

I went to a medical school that was steeped in the principles of classical Western medicine. However, I also learned mindfulness meditation during that time, which opened me to the multifaceted relationship between illnesses and the interconnecting environmental, mental and emotional realities that can impact an individual’s health.

Therefore, when I began to practice medicine, I also pursued training in hypnosis, relaxation techniques, meditation, and guided imagery, to bring a mind-body focus to my work in medical care and prevention.

The people I saw in my practice had a mix of problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and a variety of pain issues. I taught almost everyone relaxation breathing and made some general relaxation tapes. To anyone willing, I offered guided imagery.

“My work embraced an approach to wellness I call “Liberatory Health” — one that not only addresses the treatment and management of disease symptoms but also seeks to dismantle the conditions that make people sick in the first place.”

From my perspective, illness is only the outermost manifestation of our efforts to cope, often fueled by addictions such as sugar, tobacco, or alcohol, shackled by an individualistic cult belief that we have only ourselves to blame for our suffering.

To put these ideas into practical form, I would quote the immortal Mr. Rogers: “Find the helpers.” There are already people in every community working for liberation. Some of them are running for office, others are giving food to those who need it. Some are volunteering in schools, libraries or hospitals. Some are studying liberation movements, or are working in urban or community gardens, or learning to practice restorative and transformative justice, or creating liberation art, music, dance, theater or writing. Some are mentoring high schoolers or apprenticing young people in a trade. There are many places where compassionate humans are finding other humans and working together for a better world.

A more compassionate world is possible, one in which we will all enjoy better health. Creating it will make us healthier, too.

In community, we are strong. Recognizing denial and overcoming the fragmenting effects of spiritual disorder offer us a path to liberation and true health.

Good health and well-being are the collective rights of all people!

About the Author

Dr. Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

Oakland Post

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Activism

A Call to Save Liberty Hall: Oakland’s Beacon of Black Heritage Faces an Uncertain Future

For generations, Liberty Hall has been more than bricks and wood — it has been a spiritual and cultural sanctuary for Black Oakland. The building once served as a hub for Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), where Garvey’s call for economic independence and Pan-African unity resonated through the hearts of a people newly migrating to the West in search of freedom and dignity.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Liberty Hall at 1483-1485 8th St., in Oakland was built in 1877 as a store and residence. Wikimedia photo.

Special to The Post

On a quiet corner near the West Oakland BART Station stands a weathered but proud monument to African American history — the Universal Negro Improvement Association’s Liberty Hall, also known as the Marcus Garvey Building. Built in 1877, this two-story Italianate landmark has witnessed more than a century of struggle, self-determination, and community empowerment. Now, its survival hangs in the balance.

Local 188 of UNIA was the largest chapter in Northern California when the organization bought the building in 1925, but a fire burned the roof in 1931, and the chapter sold the building in 1933. The International Peace Movement, founded by Father Divine, used the building through the 1950s.

Since then, the building has been a meeting ground for civil rights organizers, artists, and educators like Overcomers With Hope who have carried that same flame of liberation through Oakland’s turbulent decades.

Today, local cultural organizer and artist Douglas “Pharoah” Stewart has stepped forward to lead the charge to save Liberty Hall. Stewart is already facing “Cultural Eviction” at the Oakland Cannery, and through his organization, Indigenous House, Stewart has rallied a coalition of artists, educators, historians, and community leaders to preserve and restore the site as a community-owned cooperative center — a place where arts, wellness, and economic empowerment can thrive for future generations.

“Liberty Hall is not just a building — it’s a living ancestor,” Stewart says. “This space gave birth to movements that shaped who we are as a people. If we lose this, we lose a piece of our soul.”

Stewart envisions transforming the historic landmark into a multi-purpose cooperative hub — complete with a cultural museum, community performance space, youth tech labs, and creative studios for local entrepreneurs. His vision echoes Garvey’s own: “A place where we can rise together, economically, spiritually, and culturally.”

But the fight is urgent. The aging building faces structural challenges, and time is running short to secure preservation funding. Stewart and his team are now calling on city officials, foundations, athletes, and celebrities to join forces with the community to raise the necessary capital for acquisition and restoration.

“We’re inviting everyone — from the Oakland A’s to local artists, from Golden State Warriors players to Black-owned businesses — to stand with us,” Stewart urges. “Let’s make Liberty Hall a model for what preservation can look like when the people lead.”

The Liberty Hall Project aligns with Oakland’s growing movement to protect historic Black cultural sites — places like Esther’s Orbit Room, Marcus Bookstore, and the California Hotel. For Stewart, Liberty Hall represents a chance to bridge the city’s past with its future, transforming preservation into a living, breathing act of justice.

“This is not nostalgia,” Stewart says. “This is nation-building. It’s about creating sustainable, community-owned spaces that honor our ancestors and empower our youth.”

As development pressures mount across West Oakland, Liberty Hall stands as a powerful reminder of resilience, resistance, and rebirth. The question now is whether the community — and those with the power to help — will answer the call.

For donations, partnerships, or information about the Liberty Hall Cooperative Development Project, contact Indigenous House at www.indigenoushouse.org Douglas Stewart dstewart.wealth@gmail.com

Oakland Post

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MLK Way at 57th Street in Oakland Renamed Bobby Seale Way for Black Panther Co-Founder

In 1962, Bobby Seale and Virtual Murrell cofounded the first known Black student organization called the Soul Students Advisory Council at Oakland City College located at 57th and Grove streets, now MLK. Jr. Way.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Promotional flyer for the renaming event. Courtesy photo.

By Zac Unger

We are so proud to honor the legacy of the great Bobby Seale by commemoratively renaming 57^th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way to Bobby Seale Way in North Oakland. Seale, 88, has dedicated his life to advancing social justice, racial equality, and community self-determination. He played an essential part in the history of our country by co-founding the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland in 1966 with the late Huey Newton.

Our City has a tremendous history of activism, and it is a legacy we are proud of and strive to continue as our community and country face so many incredible challenges right now.

In 1962, Bobby Seale and Virtual Murrell cofounded the first known Black student organization called the Soul Students Advisory Council at Oakland City College, located at 57th and Grove streets, now MLK. Jr. Way.

Later, they cofounded the first Negro history class, which led to the establishment of the first Black Studies program in college curricula in the country. Murrell is scheduled to introduce Seale at the street dedication.

The author of “Seize the Time,” Seale ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, coming in second in a field of nine. We are proud to memorialize his legacy by renaming this street so that we do not forget the legacy and change he has made.

Zac Unger is Oakland’s District 1 Councilmember