An African American Who Has Befriended and Converted KKK Members

Can a black man become friends with KKK members and even turn some of them against the ideology of white supremacy? Daryl Davis is living proof that it can happen:

I took a course last spring, "Rock 'n' Roll, Race & Society," that Daryl taught at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Towson, MD. Daryl's lectures were accompanied by his skillful boogie-woogie piano playing and singing as he reminded us (mostly white) seniors of the music of our youth. When Daryl was young, he told us, he idolized the late Chuck Berry and wound up learning to play piano and eventually accompanying Berry at numerous gigs. He's also played in backup bands and on records with such notables as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Muddy Waters,  Elvis Presley’s Jordanaires, The Platters, The Drifters, The Coasters, Bo Diddley, Percy Sledge, and Sam Moore of Sam & Dave.

I have taken several excellent courses at Osher, but this was the only one in which the teacher was given a standing ovation at the end!

A column by Daryl, "I wanted to understand why racists hated me. So I befriended Klansmen," is on the front page of the Outlook section in today's Washington Post. Here's the photo that accompanied the column:

Daryl Davis's official website is here.