Daryl Davis: Black musician breaking racial barriers visiting Central PA

The Spark

Daryl Davis a black blues musician will be speaking and performing at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in Lancaster Oct 4 at 3:30 p.m. Davis is currently the subject of an Independent Lens documentary.

Davis says he was inspired musically by Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.

“I thought, my goodness, that's what I want to do. And what, you know, really inspired me about them was the fact that these two gentlemen and their contemporaries had made millions upon millions of people all over the world happy with their music. They had touched them.”

Davis graduated from Howard University with a degree in jazz performance. He’s played a lot of rock n’ roll, country blues, boogie woogie, jazz, and big band swing. Davis performed with the late Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many other artists. He believes music is a powerful uniting force.

Davis is also the author of Klan-destine Relationships: A Black Man’s Odyssey where he speaks about the power of conversation to ignite positive change, understanding hate groups in America, and how music broke down racial barriers in the 1950’s and 1980’s.

After the performance, a guy came up to Davis praising his performance. The man told Davis he was a member of the Klu Klux Klan. That interaction posed a question for Davis. A question that has been haunting hum since he was 10 years old.

“How can you hate me? You don't even know me. It fell right into your lap, and you didn't even realize it. Because who is the best person to ask? Who better to ask that question of than someone who would go so far as to join an organization that has over a 100-year history of practicing hating people who don't look like that or who don't believe as they believe? Get back in contact with that Klansman and ask him to set you up with the Klan leader for the state of Maryland. To a state leader is known as a grand dragon. It's what you and I would call a governor who heads of state, a national leader. You and I would call a president. They call it the Imperial wizard. So, I you know, I've told him myself, you know, get back in contact with that guy. Get him to set you up with the Grand Dragon interview. The Grand Dragon. Go up north. Go down south. Go to the Midwest. Go to the West. Interview other grand dragons, imperial wizards and other members. And write a book about it. Because all the books written on the Klan have been written by white people, you know, who had more access, they could sit down and interview Klan people. No black person had done that. So, I decided I would write the first book as a black author from the perspective of sitting down face to face with Klan leaders and members and interviewing them. And that's how I started.”

As Davis continued to ask that question by speaking with KKK members, some became his friends, left the Klan, and gave him their robes and hoods.

“And today, I own a ton of Klan robes and Klan hoods that have been given to me by active KKK leaders and members because they no longer believe in what those things stand for. As a result of these conversations.”

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