AAAM 2026 Board Cohort
Regina Bain,
Executive Director
Louis Armstrong House Museum
Regina Bain serves as the Executive Director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum (LAHM) in Queens, New York. LAHM was honored with the 2024 United States National Medal for Museums and Libraries and in 2025 became part of New York City’s esteemed Cultural Institutions Group. The Museum preserves the landmarked home and archives of jazz icon, Louis Armstrong, and develops programs grounded in the values of artistic excellence, education and community. Ms. Bain recently opened the 14,000 sq. foot, 26 million-dollar, Armstrong Center, housing a multimedia exhibition, 75-seat performance space, and the 60,000-piece Armstrong Archives — the largest of any single jazz musician. Her writing is featured in the Handbook of Black Librarianship, Third Edition and she was featured in AMNewYork’s 2025 Power Players in Art and Culture.
Ms. Bain previously served as Associate Vice President of the Posse Foundation — a national leadership and college access program, where she supported Executive Directors in 10 cities, led the staff training team, and facilitated large and small group dialogue on issues of identity and power. Bain is a co-facilitator of Culture @3, a community of cultural leaders in New York, and recently served on Yale University’s Alumni Board of Governors. She is currently curating a multinational exhibition on Armstrong in Ghana: Independence and Freedom, debuting in Fall 2026, co-curating a digital experience on Jazz and Hip Hop in Queens debuting in Winter 2027, and supporting the ongoing Corona Collection of oral histories and documentary films featuring Louis Armstrong’s neighbors.
Dr. Xavier Buck,
Executive Director
Dr. Heuy P. Newton Foundation
Dr. Xavier Buck is a public historian, nonprofit executive, and the founding director of the Black Panther Party Museum in Oakland, California. As Executive Director of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, he leads one of the nation’s foremost efforts to preserve, interpret, and expand the legacy of the Black Panther Party. His portfolio includes museum development, national exhibitions, curriculum design, public programming, technology-driven archives, and large-scale anniversary initiatives.
A graduate of St. John’s University and the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Buck bridges scholarly rigor with cultural strategy. He is also the creator of @historyin3, a fast-growing digital platform with hundreds of thousands of followers, where he distills Black history, politics, and global liberation movements into sharp, three-minute narratives that reach millions each month.
Across museums, media, and grassroots campaigns, Dr. Buck’s work centers authentic storytelling, community empowerment, and historical clarity. Whether curating exhibitions, producing national tours, advising cultural institutions, or crafting viral educational content, he is committed to ensuring that Black history is preserved, accessible, and understood as a blueprint for building a more just future.
Andre Taylor,
Public Historian
Andre Taylor, a public historian who focuses on interpreting African American foodways and oral histories, is a PhD candidate in the American Studies program at the College of William & Mary. His research project, “Sit-ins and Takeouts: Greensboro, the Civil Rights Movement, and Food,” focuses on the memories of those who participated in the sit-ins and other protests centered around food, who worked behind white lunch counters, those who worked in Black eateries and lodges, women who spearheaded protests in the city, and those who cooked in the churches to provide food for Civil Rights Movement activists in Greensboro from 1960 to 1969. He is the former historian of African American History and Culture with the Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) Foundation where he focused on 18th century Black foodways. He is also the former oral historian at William & Mary where he curated the interactive exhibit, “Strollin’: A History of Black Greek Letter Organizations at William & Mary.” In 2022, Andre published an article, “Sweet Memory: Extracting Oral Histories from Unwritten African American Recipes,” in the University of London’s “Historians for History” blog. He is a native of Philadelphia, Pa. and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History (NC A&T State University) and a Master of Arts in Public History (NC State University).
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