By Oliver Murphy, Yes!, July 21, 2020
As a kid growing up in 1960s Chicago, Daryl Davis was shocked when his parents explained that White children were throwing rocks at him during a Cub Scouts parade because he was Black. Davis’ parents both worked in the U.S. Foreign Service and, having lived in numerous parts of the world, he had become used to attending integrated schools, where the children of diplomats of different races and cultural backgrounds were taught together and interacted with one another.
This made the violent encounter all the more baffling and left a burning question in Davis’ mind: “How can you hate me if you do not know me?”
A blues pianist, whose energetic style led him to perform with the likes of Chuck Berry, B.B. King, and Jerry Lee Lewis, Davis would commit his life to seeking out answers to that question, often with his music and his Christian faith as equalizers.
Comments (0)