Cspan. Announcer this week on q a, musician and lecturer daryl davis. For over 30 years, he has befriended members of the kkk to try to understand their hatred into convince them to change their ways. Brian daryl davis, what impact did chuck berry have on your life . Daryl chuck berry had a very profound impact on me. The man was a genius. Not many people can say they played a song that invented a genre of music. Chuck berry did that. We would not have rock n roll without chuck berry. When i first heard chuck berry, i fell in love with that music , and when i first saw him, i changed my career trajectory. I was going to be a computer programmer. Back then, computers were of course twice as big as this room. Or an espionage agent. Each one was pulling at me with equal force. I was immobilized and i was trying to figure out how to do both. Back then there was no way. Today you can through cyber espionage. But, i saw chuck berry somewhere along the pathway as a kid and said, that is what i want to do. It was chuck berry and another fellow, Elvis Presley, i saw him, too. Elvis presley. They had made millions upon millions of people happy with their music. They touched them without even knowing them. That fascinated me. I thought, i want to be able to bring joy to people whether i meet them or not. Brian what was the story of your first meeting with him . Daryl he came to the university of maryland. It was going to be chuck berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. I got down there super early, hoping i would be able to sneak in and meet him during sound check or rehearsal. Because i knew the promoter had to supply the backing band for him. The concert would not begin until 8 00 p. M. Thi that evening, and i was a kid. I got a ride down there around noon time. You know, like eight hours before showtime. The hanger doors were open, people were bringing in equipment and lights and speakers and things like that. I just walked on in. Nobody stopped me. There was no security there at that time. So i just hung out and stayed out of everybodys way. The band came and i moved over near the stage where the band was, thinking that when chuck comes for the sound check, i would be able to meet my idol. The band was very nervous. They had never worked with chuck berry before. They were down from new jersey to play for him. The sound check was at 2 00. They assumed he would be there around 2 00. 2 00 rolled around, and no chuck berry, and they got more nervous. So they did the sound check and ran through some songs and sounded fantastic. The hours went by, still no chuck berry. They went on at the beginning of the show and did a short set. Then Jerry Lee Lewis came and i got to meet him. They came on the stage, still no chuck berry. 15 minutes before jerry lee finished, in walked chuck berry. Through the backstage door. He came in by himself. No guitar, nothing. He walked right by me. I froze. Because, you know, it was a total shock. He went right by me, and there was somebody standing down the hallway. He stopped and spoke with that person. I do not know what he said, but in retrospect, i do. That person pointed further down the hallway to a door. Chuck went inside the door. A few minutes later, he came back out, walked by me again, back outside the backstage door , and then he returned with his guitar. In retrospect, what happened was, he went down to the promoters office to get paid up front, then he went and got his guitar. He did not bring his guitar until he had money. He brought his guitar in, i was sitting over there near where the band was. He came over, the bandleader walked up to him. He is like taking his guitar out of the case. He said hi, my name is Bruce Springsteen, we are your backup band, we thought you were going to be here this afternoon. He said, no. You know, just totally oblivious. He said we ran through some of your songs, which ones are you going to play tonight . And chuck berry said, i think i will play some chuck berry. He went on stage, the band went on right after him, and went right into it. No key, no count off, nothing. And the band was right with them. It just blew my mind. Brian you slip the words Bruce Springsteen. What year was this . Daryl this was 1972 or 1973. I was 15. I was born in 1958. April. Brian had anybody heard of Bruce Springsteen . Daryl no. Nobody outside of new jersey. Asbury park, new jersey. So, the name did not mean anything to me. A year or so later, he is on the cover of time magazine, you know . It was like, wow. That is the same guy. Brian i want to show some video from 1997. If people look closely, they will see you at the piano. Lets watch this clip. Brian how did you end up on that stage . Daryl that is a funny story. It was late night with david letterman, and i knew chuck was going to be on there. I called him and said, can i come up to new york and hang out with you . He said, all right. They let i took the train or the bus up to new york, and i went to the studio, and he had my name on the guest list, backstage where security was. He was not there yet, so they let me in and said mr. Berry is not here yet, but i could go to his dressing room or his waiting room. I went to his waiting room. Tony randall was in there and Roseanne Barr and a couple other people who were going to be on the show. David does like two separate tapings per night. So i went to chuck berrys dressing room and eventually, he came. We were just sitting there, and then this producer walks in. Berry, my name is whatever, and i have you slated to do roll over beethoven with Paul Schaefer on it his band. He said, this is my piano player, daryl davis. He said i did not know your pno player was going to be here. We have Paul Schaefer. This is my piano player, daryl davis. Daryl, give him your Social Security number so you can get paid. I had not even planned on playing, i had just come to hang out. So i gave her my social and she was all flustered. Im a member of sag and all that. She said, ok, i will talk with mr. Schaefer. You all are going to perform roll over beethoven, and chuck berry said, i am going to play let it rock. And she said mr. Schaefer has roll oversing beethoven. Chuck said, i am going to do let it rock. So i went down there and there was Paul Schaefer. And Paul Schaefer is not only one of the most talented musicians in this country, he is totally underrated. The guys a genius, just a topnotch musician. Not only is he one of the most talented musicians in this country, he is also one of the nicest and most humblest. He had no problem with it whatsoever. I rehearsed the band on let it rock. He invited me to play with the band for the show. I said, thank you for the invitation. Brian around this time, our regular viewers are probably saying, what in the world are they talking about . We do not normally talk music on the show. There is a lot more to the story than music. I want to go back to how did you develop a relationship with chuck berry . You are thinking about humanity and Race Relations and things like that in this country. Daryl people like chuck berry and buddy holly and elvis lewis, bo diddly, these people were the pioneers of rock n roll. Back in the day, prior to rock n roll, music halls and concert venues were segregated, if they allowed black people in at all. There were signs hanging that would say, seating for white patrons only. Or they would say, colored seating only. And that jim crow law was still in place in the 1950s. If you and i are going to go see glenn miller or somebody, sinatra in the 1940s, we could not sit together. We would have to sit in designated seating sections according to the color of our skin. So even in the 1950s, that law was in place. But to phenomenons happened. One, the invention of rock n roll by people like chuck berry, domino, board, fats diddly, and then the popularization of it by elvis lewis, buddyy lee holly, and others. When white kids and black kids heard the new rhythm, they could not sit still. They bounced up out of their chairs, not the ropes and the signs over, and the next thing you knew, they were dancing together for the first time in the history of this country. Police would come in and shut down the show. So rock n roll brought white and black youth together through music. The same things the great civil rights activist like Martin Luther king, rosa parks, and many others, blackandwhite, would try to achieve through their marches, demonstrations, their sitins, boycotts in efforts to bring white and black adults together. Check berry and Elvis Presley were achieving this through music. And that attracted me as well. Brian how long had you been a musician . Daryl professionally . Since i graduated from Howard University in i was playing 1980. Slightly before that, during college. During my formative learning years, was kind of a late bloomer when it came to music. I started when i was 17 in high school, a junior. Brian i want to jump way out of context. There is a new documentary about you on netflix. It is called accidental courtesy. You have gotten a lot of publicity over this about things you have been involved in. [begin video clip] daryl this is an imperial this is the robe of an imperial wizard. This indicates they will shed their blood for the white race. If you look along the white cross, the black line and the two diagonal lines form a k. So you see four of them essentially. And, it stands for knights of the ku klux klan. People say to me, daryl, why do you have this stuff. Why dont you burn it . But, no. As shameful as it is, this is a part of american history. Do not burn our history, regardless. The kkk is as american as apple pie and the chevrolet. Brian what is the story behind this . Daryl i wrote a book in 1998 called klandestine relationships. I went around the country interviewing leaders and klan members based on an experience i had when i was a child. When i was a kid, i had a racist incident. People threw rocks and bottles at me. White spectators. I did not understand why i was a target. Then when racism was explained to me, i could not accept it. I had never heard of racism. I could not accept racism. I could not get my head around the idea that someone who had never spoken to me and knew nothing about me would want to hurt me for no other reason than the color of my skin. I formed the question at the age of 10 in 1968, which was, how can you hate me when you do not even know me . I have been seeking that answer , you know, for the next 49 years. I have bought books on white and supremacy and black supremacy. Nazi germany. I have been looking for the answer in the books and i could not find it. So, and my adult life i figured, well, who better to ask than someone who would join an organization that is reputed to believe that somebody elses inferior, who does not look like them or believe as they believe based on the color of their skin or their religious beliefs . So i decided i would seek out klan members and ask them to answer the question, and then i would get my answer. So the book came out. My book was the first book by a black author on the ku klux klan with face to face interviews. So that generated interest and different producers of documentaries began contacting me, wanting to do a documentary on the book. So years later after sifting through a lot of them, we decided on these particular producers and this was the product of which you just showed a clip. Brian who was the first member of the ku klux klan that you met, and how did you do it . Daryl the first one i met was a pretty negative and counter. It ended up in violence. But the first one i sat down to interview was the leader of the ku klux klan in the state of maryland. The state leader is known as a grand dragon, which we would call a governor, overseas the entire state. The top guy, the national guy who oversees all of the states , what we would call the president , that is what is known as the empirial wizard. The grand dragons name was roger kelly. He went from grand dragon to an imperial wizard. He is the first one i sat down with and had a conversation. Brian how did you set it up you . Daryl my secretary was white. Not that it matters, but it is essential to the story. I acquired his phone number. I gave it to her. The person who gave the phone number to me warned me not to fall with roger kelly. You can get yourself killed. I wanted to sit down with him and talk with him. So that was not going to deter me. But i wanted to make it so i did not jinx myself. I had my secretary call him. I figured if i called him, he might pick up in my voice that i am black. You. Not talking to click. The process would have ended before it started. So i knew that if she called him, he would automatically know in her voice that it was a white lady. He would not automatically assume that this white lady was working for a black man, especially a black man who was writing a book on the klan. Because they did not exist, you know, at the time. So, she called him. I had told her, do not tell him that i am black unless he asks. If he asks, do not lie to him. But do not allude to it. If he agrees to do it, he will figure that out when he sees me, and then he can make up his mind right then and there if he wants to talk to me or not. If i am going to meet him, i wanted it to be spontaneous. If he agreed knowing i was black, i did not want him to have different answers for a white interviewer than for a black interviewer. She called and spoke with him, and he agreed to meet with me and did not ask what color i was. Brian what was his reaction . Daryl we had it set up for a motel room. When he showed up, we were already in the room. I had a bucket of ice with cans of soda they are so i could be hospitable, and i offered him a beverage. He showed up with his bodyguard. A grand nighthawk. A bodyguard for the imperial grand dragon. An imperial nighthawk would be a bodyguard for the imperial dragon. So the bodyguard walked in first and was wearing military camouflage. And the initials kkk on his chest. Imprinted across his beret on his head was knights of the ku klux klan. On his hips he had a semi automatic handgun in a holster. He came in and was followed right behind by mr. Kelly, the grand dragon in a dark blue suit and tie. When the nighthawk walked into the room and turned the corner, he just froze. Mr. Kelly bumped into his back because the guy stopped short. They regained their balance, looking all around the room. I knew what they were thinking. Either the desk clerk gave them the wrong room number or this was a setup. This was an ambush. So i went like this to display my hand, nothing in them, i stood up and approached them and kelly. , mr. Come on in. He looked at me and shook my hand. I thought, so far so good. Brian and then what . Daryl i asked him to have a seat. He sat down and asked me for identification, and i gave it to him. Then we proceeded with the interview. Now, i had a bag beside me, i bag, i had a copy of the bible, because the ku klux klan claim to to be a Christian Organization and they also claim that the bible preaches racial separation. Now, and my reading of the bible i have never seen that in there. So i wanted to be able to pull up my bible and say, please show me chapter and verse where it says blacks and whites should be separated. I also had a cassette player to record my interview. We began talking. Back and forth. He let me know that i was inferior because i was black. Brian did he say why . Daryl yes, because black people have smaller brains and we are basically inclined to be lazy and uneducated, and things like that, you know, all of the stereotypes. Brian what was the physical reaction to that . Having him sitting across from you . Daryl it was interesting, he because as he was sitting across from me, he was wearing a suit and tie. I know who i am, and i am confident in who i am. So that was not going to throw me. I was expecting stuff like that. Because, you know, i had read all of these books on the klan already. And i thought, how can he hate me when he does not know me and has not even given me a chance to express myself and know my see if he still has those feelings. Brian what happened to that relationship . Daryl we became the best of friends eventually. Brian what does that mean . Daryl it means we hung out and we would go out to dinner. Not all in the next day or the next week, but over time. There was an incident that happened in the room that was a teaching moment. I will not say it was a learning moment. That will come later. Every time i would reach down to pull out a fresh cassette or pull out the bible because he made some biblical reference, every time i would reach down, the nighthawk would reach up. For his gun. Because he did not know what was in my bag. Understandably. Eventually he realized there was no threat in the bag, and he relaxed. And i went on with no problem. A little later on in the interview, there was a strange noise in the room and we all jumped. And i just knew that mr. Kelly had made the noise. Because i did not make it. I perceived it to be ominous and threatening, and i could hear a voice in my head, daryl, do not fool with roger kelly. He will kill you. I was ready to attack. You know, my eyes locked with his eyes. And i was like, what did you just do . His eyes have locked in mind, and i could read the expression in his ,which was saying, what did you just do . And, the nighthawk was looking back and forth between us like, what did one of the two of you just do . And my secretary was to my left sitting on top of the dresser. There were no more chairs. She realized what had happened. The ice in the bucket had melted, and the cans of soda had shifted, and that is what had made the noise. We all began laughing at how ignorant we all had been. The teaching moment was this all because some foreign entity and underscore highlight the word foreign entity of which we were ignorant, the bucket of ice, entered into our comfort zone via the noise it made, we became fearful and accusatory of one another. So the lesson was, ignorance breeds fear. If you do not keep the fear in check, that fear will breed hatred. If you do not keep hatred in check, that hatred will breed destruction. Brian from the documentary accidental courtesy, can we buy it if we do not have netflix . Daryl yes. You can order it from the company or itunes. Netflix. Brian here is somebody who kicked back at you from your own race. Lets watch. [begin video clip] stop wasting your time going into houses where they dont love you, where they want to throw you into the basement. Daryl you believe nobody can change . No, i believe you believe the wrong people can change. Daryl what do you mean . You are going to their houses. White supremacists cannot change. You aint doing nothing but collecting something. You are nothing but a pimp in a pullpit. Daryl and you are nothing but ignorant. Brian who was t