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Daryl  Davis

Daryl Davis

Musician, Author, Compelling Unifier, Klan Whisperer, and Award-winning Conflict Navigator

In-Person Fee Range:
$15,001 - $20,000
Virtual Fee Range:
$15,001 - $20,000
Traveling from:
Maryland
Video Profile

Daryl Davis

Musician, Author, Compelling Unifier, Klan Whisperer, and Award-winning Conflict Navigator

In-Person Fee Range:
$15,001 - $20,000
Fee Details
Virtual Fee Range:
$15,001 - $20,000
Fee Details
Traveling from:
Maryland

Why Book

  • The noted Black musician gained international acclaim by confronting, face to face, leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other White supremacist groups who hate him simply for the color of his skin. Daryl Davis is committed to helping people ignite positive change – using conversation to build bridges. His expert opinion is routinely sought after by leading print, broadcast, and online news organizations.

Biography

Daryl Davis is committed to helping people ignite positive change – using conversation to build bridges. His jaw-dropping experiences speak for themselves. For nearly 40 years, he’s engaged leaders of the KKK and White supremacist groups face to face to find the answer to a question: “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” That question stemmed from his first encounter with racism at age ten when he was pelted with rocks, bottles, and soda cans by a handful of White spectators while marching in a parade. Seeking to understand, not to change minds, Daryl met their hatred with civility, patience, and listening. Those conversations spawned genuine and lasting friendships with many who changed their own minds and disavowed hateful beliefs. Some even gave Daryl their robes and hoods when they did.

As a speaker, Daryl is an extraordinary storyteller who inspires and empowers audiences with tools they can use to make better workplaces, communities, and relations with family and friends. Daryl’s work is chronicled in his book Klan-Destine Relationships and the documentary Accidental Courtesy. Daryl’s TEDx talk has over 12 million views.

Daryl graduated from Howard University with his Bachelor of Music Degree. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Post University for the unique work he has done in the field of race relations. He has performed extensively with Chuck Berry, The Legendary Blues Band (formerly The Muddy Waters Blues Band), and many others. While music is his profession, improving race relations is his obsession. He is known to many as “The Rock’n’Roll Race Reconciliator.” It started during a break between performances with a band at a bar one night. A man approached Daryl and remarked that this was the first time he had ever seen a Black man play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis. Daryl explained that both he and Lewis were influenced by Black Blues & Boogie-Woogie pianists, from which Rock’n’Roll and Rockabilly evolved. The man did not believe in the Black origin of Daryl’s piano style even after he said that Lewis was a friend who had shared this news with him. The man then shared news with Daryl – he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. This meeting, and those that followed, would lead Daryl on a journey all over America, meeting and interviewing leaders and members from KKK, neo-Nazi and Alt-Right groups at both his and their homes as well as their rallies.

With his highly acclaimed, nonfiction book, Klan-Destine Relationships, Daryl become the first Black author to write a book on the Klan from in-person interviews. The award-winning documentary, Accidental Courtesy, details his journey and has been shown frequently on PBS. Daryl, who has been to 57 countries on 6 continents, is often selected by the U.S. State Department as a highly respected expert on race relations and conflict, to present programs in various countries around the world dealing with similar situations.

Daryl has been doing this work since 1983 and has become the recipient of numerous Klan robes & hoods and other racist symbols, given to him by people who once hated him when they didn’t even know him. Now many of them have become his friends and supporters of his work. On the other side of spectrum, for his work in bridging race relations he is the recipient of numerous awards such as the American Ethical Union’s prestigious Elliott-Black Award, Carnegie-Mellon’s Carl Sagan Award & Prize, Tribeca Disruption Innovation Award, MLK Award, Search for Common Ground Award, Washington Ethical Society Bridge-Builder Award, among many others. He is often sought for commentary by CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, People magazine, and many other media sources.

In Daryl’s words, “Ever since I graduated from college in 1980 with my degree in music, I’ve been a full-time musician, traveling and performing all over America and around the world. What I’ve come to find to be the greatest, most effective, and successful weapon we can use to combat ignorance, racism, hatred, and violence, is also the least expensive weapon – and the one that is least used by Americans. That weapon is called communication. We can communicate with people in space but many of us have difficulty talking to the person who lives next door because of the color of their skin, their ethnicity, their religion, their orientation, their politics, etc. We are living with 21st century technology in Space Age times, but there are still too many of us with Stone Age minds.”

Daryl has come in closer contact with more members of the Ku Klux Klan than most White people, and certainly most Blacks, short of being on the wrong end of a rope. What’s more surprising? He intentionally continues to do so because as he says, “Ignorance breeds fear. If you do not keep that fear in check, that fear will breed hatred. Because we hate those things that frighten us. If you do not keep that hatred in check, that hatred in turn will breed destruction because we want to destroy those things that we hate. Why? Because they frighten us.” When he speaks, Daryl Davis’s impact on an audience is sobering yet inspirational. More than a few members in every audience remember and ask him about the fictional character in Dave Chappelle’s comedic skit in which he plays a blind Klansman who didn’t know he was Black and attends Klan rallies. Daryl shares stories that would be comical, if he weren’t putting his life on the line for a purpose. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction might ever be in Daryl’s case. People will also point out how courageous Daryl was to actually turn up at Klan rallies himself. Inevitably they bring up Spike Lee’s film BlacKkKlansman. That film depicts a Black police officer who infiltrated the KKK over the telephone and would send a White subordinate officer to Klan rallies in his place to gather damning intelligence against the Klan. The difference is not lost on the audience. Daryl had his feet on the ground in the lion’s den and tells the story first-hand.

Through his work, Daryl has discovered a successful method of transforming enemies into friends. His stories of his encounters with – and transformations of – White supremacists have inspired people all over the U.S. and abroad. His audiences leave his presentations empowered to:

• Overcome Their Fears

• Confront Their Prejudices

• Recognize Similarities

• Appreciate Differences

• Navigate Diversity

• Improve Relationships with Others

• Better Their Lives While Creating a Positive Impact on Others

In addition to his career as a performing musician, Daryl is the owner of Lyrad Music, a music publishing and licensing business. He is also an actor of stage and screen and has appeared in HBO’s highly acclaimed series The Wire

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Programs

CIVIL CONVERSATIONS IGNITE POSITIVE CHANGE

It’s simply amazing what empathy and civil conversation can accomplish. Daryl Davis should know. For nearly 40 years the noted Black musician has gained acclaim for confronting extreme bias with civility. He’s engaged, face-to-face, those who hate him because of the color of his skin: members and leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other White Supremacist groups. Disbelief is most people’s first reaction: How could he possibly be civil to “those people?” But Daryl reached out in an effort to understand – not to change minds. Those conversations forged unlikely but genuine friendships and over time many of his new friends changed their own minds and renounced their old beliefs. Some even gave Daryl their robes, hoods, Nazi flags, and other symbols of their past. Daryl is a brilliant storyteller with jaw-dropping experiences about building bridges of understanding using practical tools we can all employ to ignite positive change in our workplace, our community, and at the family dinner table. As Daryl says, “A missed opportunity for dialogue is a missed opportunity for conflict resolution.” This presentation is positively inspiring.

THE KLAN WHISPERER

Daryl Davis is a Black man who for almost 40 years has walked on the edge – with one foot dangling over the precipice – on a quest to explore racism. Along the way, Daryl has befriended White supremacists, attended Ku Klux Klan rallies, been a pallbearer at a Grand Dragon’s funeral, performed hymns at an Imperial Wizard’s funeral, stood in as the surrogate father of a Klanswoman bride – walking her down the aisle to be given away at her wedding to an Imperial Wizard, and spurred the dismantling of the largest Klan group in the State of Maryland. Daryl is a master storyteller whose recollections have the suspense of a true-crime podcast and keep audiences riveted to their seats in disbelief. People leave his presentations empowered with the tools to make better friends out of even their sworn enemies.

WHAT'S DRIVING WHITE SUPREMACY TODAY?

From the high influx of non-European immigration to the United States, to a Black President, to a violent and deadly White supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA, to the rhetoric that inspired an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, to fear of the “Browning of America,” “White Genocide,” and majority-minority reversal in the year 2042…Daryl Davis is the voice of knowledge, reason, and tranquility in uncertain, racially turbulent times. For nearly 40 years he has been studying and dealing directly with some of the biggest promulgators of White supremacy, their fears, and their quest for power. His expert opinion is often sought by such leading news organizations as CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, NPR, The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Newsweek, and The Atlantic. Daryl’s insights bring business leaders, law enforcement, policy makers, educators, and average citizens up to speed – helping them understand what’s to be expected and what can be done.

HAIL, HAIL ROCK'N'ROLL – DELIVER ME FROM THE DAYS OF OLD

It was music that launched Daryl Davis’ crazy connection to the Ku Klux Klan. He was complimented at a show by a White man who said he’d never heard a Black man play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis. Daryl explained that Lewis, who was actually a friend of his, learned his style by imitating Black artists of the day. The guy didn’t believe it. He also confessed to being a member of the KKK. The ensuing conversation led to an introduction to the leader of the Maryland KKK. Daryl interviewed him for his book and became his unlikely friend. In this talk, Daryl recounts how rock’n’roll – called “the devil’s music” by its detractors at the time of its inception – broke down early racial barriers with young people in the 1950s. Daryl brings that history forward into his own story, using music as a common denominator and proving that musical and racial harmony go hand-in-hand. He has been dubbed “The Rock’n’Roll Race Reconciliator” for helping people find common ground. Daryl punctuates his captivating presentation with a thrilling musical performance, in the signature Boogie-Woogie style he honed while backing Chuck Berry and other rock’n’roll legends.

DIVERSITY LESSONS FROM A BLACK KLAN WHISPERER

“We spend too much time talking about the other person, talking at the other person, and talking past the other person. Amazing things can happen when we spend some time talking with the other person.” So says Daryl Davis, whose jaw-dropping experiences engaging KKK and White supremacist leaders hold lessons that inspire audiences to think differently about how they engage others who don’t share their views, backgrounds, religion, etc. The more we talk, the more we understand each other and discover what we have in common. That’s when the possibilities open up and the importance of our differences diminishes.

Sample Takeaways:

• Learn to build bridges and ignite positive change in the workplace, community, and at home

• Everyone wants the same 5 things – learn what they are and how they drive behavior

• Spend 5 minutes together and you will find things in common with even your worst enemy

• A missed opportunity for dialogue is a missed opportunity for conflict resolution

• The power of empathy – put yourself in the other person’s shoes

Daryl Davis Reviews

“Your presentation was riveting. You are such an engaging speaker and your story is powerful. We are humbled and inspired by the lessons you shared with us, and the knowledge that each of us can make a difference.”

— Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

“My father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” Vanity asks the question, “Is it popular?” But, conscience asks the question, “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right. Daryl Davis continues to take a position that is not safe, political, or popular, but is right because it is driven by his conscience and courage. The work that Daryl is doing to bridge the divide, sets an example for our nation and world to follow in light of the current racial tensions. Daryl is truly committed to creating the Beloved Community where hate no longer exists, but love prevails.”

— Reverend Dr. Bernice King, Daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr & Corretta Scott King and CEO The King Center

“He was fabulous! We had a great turnout too! Couldn’t have been better. Daryl exceeded our expectations!”

— Director of Community Programs, Roanoke College

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NEED MORE IDEAS?

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NEED MORE IDEAS?

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Speak with our experienced Program Consultants.

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NEED MORE IDEAS?

We are here to help.
Speak with our experienced Program Consultants.

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NEED MORE IDEAS?

We are here to help.
Speak with our experienced Program Consultants.

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