David O. Fakunle II | Black Storytelling, Healing and the We Hold These Truths Project
Hall of Records · Chamber of Knowledge
Dr. David O. Fakunle II uses Black storytelling, African oral tradition and public-health practice to turn lived experience into community memory, healing and archival record.
Record Overview
David Olawuyi Fakunle II, Ph.D. is an African American storyteller, public-health scholar and cultural practitioner whose work joins Black storytelling, African drumming, theater and community health. His practice was shaped by Black storytelling traditions in Baltimore and by the legacy of griot Mary Carter Smith.
Living Oral History
Fakunle’s work treats storytelling as more than entertainment. Through community programs, teaching and public-health work, he uses narrative to help people name experience, preserve memory and reclaim agency. The National Endowment for the Arts has documented his approach to storytelling as a tool for public health and healing.
2026 Record
In 2026, Fakunle became one of the central facilitators of the Smithsonian’s We Hold These Truths project, a nationwide storytelling initiative asking communities what truths should be self-evident today. Smithsonian reporting notes that these conversations are being preserved in the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections.
Why This Record Matters
Fakunle’s work shows how oral history can move simultaneously through art, public health, activism and archives. The story is not only what happened; it is also how communities interpret, remember and transmit what happened.
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