Asake Bomani is an editor, art gallery owner, and Danny Glover’s former wife. She ran the Bomani Gallery in San Francisco and helped edit the 1992 art book Paris Connections: African and Caribbean Artists in Paris. She and Glover married in 1975, had one daughter, Mandisa, in 1976, and divorced in 2000.
In this article, you’ll learn about Asake Bomani’s art work, her years with Danny Glover, the book that brought her American Book Award recognition, and the family life they built before and during his rise in film.
A Life Rooted in San Francisco
Asake’s public story is closely tied to San Francisco.
She spent key years there while Glover was still finding his path. The city also became the base for her own work in art.
One of the clearest parts of that work was the Bomani Gallery.
The San Francisco Public Library identifies her with the gallery at 251 Post Street. People has also reported that she ran an art gallery.
The space gave her a role of her own in the city’s art scene.
A gallery brings artists and viewers into the same room. It can help new work find an audience. It can also give space to artists who may not get much notice from bigger places.
That work later led into one of the best known projects tied to Asake’s name.
Paris Connections Came Out in 1992
In 1992, Asake helped edit Paris Connections: African and Caribbean Artists in Paris.
She worked on the book with Belvie Rooks.
The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives lists both women as editors. It also names Asake and Cheryle Wicker as curators.
The book was tied to an art show. It was 56 pages long and used both English and French.
Its subject was Black artists living and working in Paris.
The artists came from different places and brought different ideas to their work. Some drew on African roots. Some mixed old forms with new ones. Many worked across more than one culture.
The book looked at that mix without forcing the artists into one narrow box.
That makes Paris Connections an important part of Asake’s story. It was not a memoir about a famous husband. It was a real art project made under her own name.
The Project Earned American Book Award Recognition
The work received more notice the next year.
A University of Alaska Fairbanks archive of past American Book Award winners lists Asake Bomani and Belvie Rooks under 1993.
Historical award listings connect their names with Paris Connections.
That point matters because the honor was shared. It was not a solo prize for Asake.
It also shows that her work reached beyond one gallery show in San Francisco.
The book became part of a wider record of Black art and writing in the United States.
For many people, this is the part of her life that gets lost when her name is reduced to one marriage.
How Asake Bomani Met Danny Glover
Asake met Danny Glover before he was a movie star.
They met while he was in college in San Francisco.
Glover later told The Independent that he first noticed her near her English class. He was too shy to start a long talk.
So he waited outside.
When she came out, he said hello and kept walking.
He did this more than once.
At last, he called and asked her out.
Years later, Glover could still laugh about how few words he had managed to say. He also said he had been deeply drawn to her from the start.
It is a warm detail because there was no fame around them then.
They were two young people meeting at school.
Asake Bomani Encouraged Him to Act
Their early years also shaped Glover’s career.
The Independent reported that Asake was the person who first pushed him to think of acting as a job.
That came before his major film roles.
Glover had worked for the city in community development. Acting was a far less secure path.
He later trained and worked in theater. His film career then grew through roles in Places in the Heart, The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon, To Sleep with Anger, Beloved, and many more films.
His career came from his own talent and work.
Still, he has given Asake a clear place in the start of that story.
She saw something in him before the rest of the movie world did.
Marriage and a New Baby
Asake and Glover married in 1975.
Their daughter, Mandisa Glover, was born on January 5, 1976.
She is their only child together.
People reports that Mandisa grew up in San Francisco. The family lived in the Haight-Ashbury area, not far from where Glover had grown up.
Those years came as his acting work began to grow.
The family went from normal city life into a world of film sets, travel, public events, and a much bigger level of attention.
Asake was there before that change and through many of the years that followed.
Mandisa Grew Up Around Art
Mandisa’s later life adds another layer to the family story.
She did not become a major actor like her father.
People reports that she studied history and French. She also did some work behind the scenes in film.
Food later became a larger part of her life.
She became a chef and has cooked for private events and clients.
Mandisa has said that growing up in San Francisco gave her access to food from many parts of the world.
That makes sense beside the wider family picture.
Her father worked in film, theater, and public causes. Her mother worked with art and books.
Their daughter found her own creative field.
Mandisa later became a mother. Her son, Adesola, was born in 2004.
That made Asake a grandmother.
The Bomani Gallery Had Its Own Place
The Bomani Gallery is more than a small note in Asake’s bio.
The San Francisco Public Library links her name to the gallery on Post Street.
People also credits her with running an art gallery.
That work helps explain how Paris Connections fits into her life.
She was already part of a world built around artists and shows.
She did not enter the subject only because her husband was famous.
Her own work had a home, a name, and a place in San Francisco.
The gallery also gives a better answer to a common question about her career.
Asake did not build a public Hollywood career.
Her strongest known work was in art.
A Book About Black Artists in Paris
Paris Connections focused on artists who lived and worked in Paris.
The Smithsonian record says the book was published in 1992. It was written in English and French.
The work included art, essays, and short lives of the artists in the show.
One idea runs through the project.
Artists can carry their roots with them without being trapped by them.
A person can draw from African culture and still build a style shaped by travel, city life, and new ideas.
That point gave the book a wider reach.
It was about art, but it was also about identity and movement.
Asake helped bring those stories together.
Her Marriage Ended in 2000
Asake and Glover stayed married through much of his rise in film.
Their marriage ended in 2000.
People gives the dates as 1975 to 2000. The Independent also notes that the marriage lasted more than two decades.
The divorce changed the marriage, but it did not erase the family.
Mandisa has continued to share love for both parents.
People has reported on posts in which she looks back at family photos and writes warmly about her mother and father.
That link now reaches into a third generation through Mandisa’s son.
Asake’s Later Life Stayed Less Public
After the divorce, Asake kept a much lower public profile than Glover.
There is no strong, current public record for a new job, a new marriage, or a present home address.
Her known story is strongest in the years tied to San Francisco, the Bomani Gallery, Paris Connections, and her family.
That is enough to show a full life without filling gaps with guesses.
Her private money is also not public.
Online net worth numbers tied to her name do not have a clear source.
The same is true for many exact claims about her early life.
Her well-documented work gives a better picture than those numbers ever could.
Danny Glover’s Career Kept Growing
Glover went on to become one of the most known actors of his generation.
His work includes The Color Purple, the Lethal Weapon films, Predator 2, To Sleep with Anger, Angels in the Outfield, Beloved, Dreamgirls, and Sorry to Bother You.
He also became known for public work on labor, race, human rights, and other causes.
Asake’s part in his story comes much earlier.
She knew him before the big film roles.
She encouraged him when acting was still a choice, not an established career.
That makes her role easy to understand without turning it into a claim that she created his success.
She supported a young man who later became a major actor.
Her Own Work Still Stands
Asake Bomani’s own record is small but clear.
She ran an art gallery in San Francisco.
She co-edited Paris Connections with Belvie Rooks.
She also helped curate the art show tied to the book.
Her name appears in Smithsonian records.
It also appears on the 1993 American Book Award winners list with Rooks.
These facts give her a story apart from Glover.
They show a woman involved in art, books, and the work of giving Black artists a place to be seen.
Why Her Name Still Draws Interest
Many people first search Asake Bomani because they are reading about Danny Glover.
They want to know who his first wife was, how they met, whether they had children, and what happened to the marriage.
Those questions are part of the story.
But they are not the whole story.
The more useful answer includes her own work.
She had a place in San Francisco’s art world. She helped make a book about Black artists in Paris. That book received American Book Award recognition.
She also shared the early years of Glover’s adult life and became the mother of his only child.
Those parts belong together.
Asake Bomani’s Story in 2026
In 2026, Asake Bomani remains a person with a limited public profile.
Her most solid public record comes from art, books, and family.
She ran the Bomani Gallery. She helped edit and curate Paris Connections. She and Belvie Rooks were named among the 1993 American Book Award winners.
She married Danny Glover in 1975 and became a mother in 1976.
Their marriage ended in 2000.
Their daughter Mandisa later built her own life in food and became a mother herself.
That is the clearest picture of Asake Bomani today.
Her story is not about celebrity gossip. It is about a young college romance, years of family life, a gallery in San Francisco, a book about Black artists in Paris, and work that still appears in museum and award records decades later.
Want another story about a woman who built a career beside a famous actor? Read our profile of Naomi Yomtov, Bob Odenkirk’s wife, producer, and talent manager.
