Daryl Davis

Early life

Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1958, Davis was the son of a Department of State Foreign Service officer, and moved around the globe with his parents during most of his early childhood. Living in various foreign countries, including African nations, Davis grew accustomed to the casually integrated schools of foreign diplomats, where children of many nations, races and cultures were schooled together—and grew up oblivious to the racism in his home country. Not until he returned to the United States, at age 10, did he discover that people could hate him for his skin color, alone. The awakening incident came when he joined an all-white Cub Scout troop, in Belmont, Massachusetts, and—while carrying the flag, with his troop, in a local parade—began to be struck with rocks and bottles thrown from the crowd, until troop leaders formed a protective ring around him; young Davis did not understand the incident until he discussed it with his father. The illogic of it, in his mind, led to a lifelong curiosity about such attitudes—a curiosity which would later shape much of his future activity.

Musical career

Perhaps because of his birth in Chicago, Illinois, Davis absorbed the style of blues musicians from the Mississippi Delta who had migrated North. He spent many of his early years in Europe and Africa as the son of a Foreign Service officer. In 1980, Davis earned a bachelor of music degree from Howard University, where he was a member of the Howard University Choir and Jazz Vocal Ensemble. Davis "was mentored by legendary pianists Pinetop Perkins and Johnnie Johnson who both claimed him as their godson and praised his ability to master a piano style that was popular long before he was born," according to his Kennedy Center profile.

Davis has played with such artists as Elvis Presley’s Jordanaires, The Platters, The Drifters, The Coasters, Bo Diddley, Percy Sledge, and Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave). He was awarded "Best Traditional Blues/R&B Instrumentalist" at the 2009 Washington Area Music Awards. For several years, Davis served as Artistic Director of the Centrum (arts organization) Acoustic Blues Festival.

"Davis’ piano work impresses with his winning combination of technique and abandon, and his vocals are strong and assured," wrote a reviewer in Living Blues Magazine. "Black rock’n’roll lives!"

Davis was a friend of Muddy Waters and he played piano in The Legendary Muddy Waters Blues Band.

He has frequently played backup for musical legend Chuck Berry.

Davis has played with Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the founders of rock 'n' roll.

Career as writer and lecturer, and dealing with racism

Davis has worked to improve race relations by seeking out, engaging in dialogue with, and befriending members of the Ku Klux Klan. One of his first such encounters was with former Imperial Wizard Roger Kelly. In 1983, he was playing country western music in a “white” bar when a patron came up to him and said it was the first time he had “heard a black man play as well as Jerry Lee Lewis.” Davis explained to the man that “Jerry Lee learned to play from black blues and boogie woogie piano players and he’s a friend of mine.” The white patron was skeptical and over a drink admitted he was a member of the KKK. The two became friends and eventually, the man gave Davis contact information on KKK leaders.

A few years later, Davis decided he wanted to interview Klan members and write a book on the subject. He had a "question in my head from the age of 10: 'Why do you hate me when you know nothing about me?' That question had never been answered from my youth."

Davis used false pretenses to set up a meeting with the Grand Dragon of the KKK in Maryland, Roger Kelly.

The meeting was tense. Kelly arrived at the motel with a bodyguard dressed in military style fatigues and armed with a gun. Davis became friends with Kelly, with Davis later invited by Kelly to be his daughter’s godfather. When Kelly left the Klan, he gave his robe to Davis, who hopes to one day display it in a "Museum of the Klan."

Davis eventually went on to befriend over 20 members of the KKK. He found that the Klansmen had many misconceptions about blacks, which stem mostly from intense brainwashing in their youth. When they got to know him, Davis claims, it was more difficult to maintain their prejudices. Davis recounted his experiences in his 1998 book, Klan-destine Relationships: A Black Man's Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan.

"All black people have a gene in them that makes them violent," one of the Klansmen told Davis. Rather than respond in anger, Davis challenged him to examine his belief:

Klan members have often invited Davis to meetings and they have given him their robes and hoods. Among the "Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" he interviewed were Grand Klaliff Chester Doles, Grand Giant Tony LaRicci, and Grand Giant Bob White, according to The Washington Post. One Klan member gave Davis a medallion stamped with the words "KKK – Member in good standing."

Davis claims to be responsible for helping to dismantle the KKK in Maryland because things "fell apart" after he began making inroads with its members there.

"The lesson learned is: ignorance breeds fear," says Davis. "If you don’t keep that fear in check, that fear will breed hatred. If you don’t keep hatred in check, it will breed destruction."

Not all Klansmen accepted Davis. Chester Doles was convinced that he was a spy for the Anti-Defamation League or some other Klan-buster. And Davis's friends found his fascination with the Klan to be odd. "He's attracted to controversy," says Adolph Wright, an old friend and fellow musician who believes Davis is a bit eccentric. "When the crowd goes right, he goes left," Wright told the Post.

Davis has given numerous lectures across the country about racism and his interactions with persons holding racist beliefs.

In 2016, the PBS TV Independent Lens documentary film, Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America, was produced by Matt Ornstein, which showed his interactions with KKK members and white Aryans, and provided contrasting views of his activities from members of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Black Lives Matter. The film was shown on PBS on February 13, 2017, and reran thereafter.

NOTE: Frank Ancona, the Klansman depicted at the opening and close of the documentary film Accidental Courtesy, was found shot dead in Missouri on February 11, 2017, two days before the airing of the film.

Davis's father, the retired senior Foreign Service officer William B. Davis, believed that his son engaged with the Klan because he needed to make sense of their hatred, to seek common ground. He remarked to The Washington Post that his son "has done something that I don't know any other black American, or white American, has done."

Acting career

Davis has acted on stage, film and television. He played a minor character in HBO's television series The Wire. He appeared on stage in William Saroyan’s The Time Of Your Life with Marcia Gay Harden, Brigid Cleary, and Richard Bauer, and in Elvis Mania at an off-Broadway theatre in New York City. He received positive reviews for his role in Zora Neal Hurston’s Polk County.