“When you seek to destroy somebody, all you do is empower them, because they feel like, 'you see? They don't want us to have our rights to feel the way we want to feel.' And they get more and more emboldened and more and more empowered.”

American R&B and blues musician and activist

Daryl Davis is an American R&B and blues musician and activist. He is known for confronting racism through direct conversation with members of the Ku Klux Klan, and for persuading dozens of Klansmen to leave and publicly reject the organization. He is also known for his energetic boogie-woogie piano style. Over the course of his career, Davis has performed with musicians including Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, B. B. King, and Bruce Hornsby. His work and music both reflect a long commitment to meeting hatred with engagement rather than silence.