Daryl Davis

Musician, Author, Internationally Acclaimed Conflict Navigator, Compelling Unifier, and Klan Whisperer

Expert on

  • Diversity
  • Bias
  • Conversations That Ignite Change
  • Building Trust
  • Civility
  • The Power of Music
  • White Supremacy Issues
  • Race in America

Fee Range

$15,000–$20,000

Travels from

MD, US

Biography

How do you build understanding, calm fear, and put an end to hate and racism? One conversation at a time! Daryl Davis is a renowned blues and rock musician who’s toured the world playing with musical greats including 32 years as Chuck Berry’s piano player. But Daryl’s obsession is more serious. He’s a bridge-builder who’s engaged leaders of the KKK and White supremacist groups face to face to ask 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. Daryl meets his detractors’ hatred with civility, patience, and listening. He seeks to understand – not change minds. His conversations spawn genuine and lasting friendships with many changing 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 ignite positive change in their workplace, their community, and in 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.

Speaker Videos

Hate – Undone: Conversations That Ignite Change

Conversation can build bridges or walls. It’s up to us. Daryl Davis should know. 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’s was an effort to understand them, not to change minds, but those civil conversations forged unlikely and genuine friendships. Over time, many of his new friends changed their own minds and renounced their old beliefs. What can we learn from Daryl’s inspiring and jaw-dropping experiences?

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.

2042 - What’s Driving Hate and How to Stop It

The forces of hate are on the rise in America, making more headlines each day. What can be done about this troubling trend? With over 40 years of engaging KKK and far-right White supremacist groups as a Black man, Daryl Davis provides answers and tells audiences what’s driving this domestic terror, including fear of 2042, the year America is predicted to become a non-White majority nation. Fringe groups are stoking people’s worst fears about that – fostering hate that is very real and extremely dangerous. In this talk, Daryl reminds people, hate is learned – and what is learned can be unlearned.

Hail, Hail Rock'n'Roll – The Ultimate Bridge-Builder

At its inception, Rock ’n’ Roll was called “the devil’s music” by its detractors. Some cities banned it altogether. Rooted in Black R&B and Blues, its infectious beat led young people in the South to leap over the rope that segregated Whites from Blacks in the audience. The 1957, Chuck Berry lyric, “Deliver me from the days of old,” in his hit song School Days, celebrated the music as a turning point in race relations. 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.