Builders at /The Front Yard: Bridging the Unbridgeable: One Conversation at a Time
Builders at /The Front Yard bring our campus and city together around real problem-solving. In partnership with the Builders Movement, we are creating a space that goes beyond traditional definitions of entrepreneurship—empowering people and the community to work side by side to think flexibly and create collaborative solutions to the complex challenges of our time. Together, we are cultivating a culture that strengthens our ability to listen with curiosity, imagine with creativity, and act with courage..
This lecture series invites community members from all walks of life to uncover new strategies, exchange real stories, develop constructive mindsets, and spark ideas that can build a brighter, connected future across differences.
About Daryl: Musician, actor, author, and lecturer Dr. Daryl Davis is often called The Rock'n'Roll Race Reconciliator. He's not white. He's not even light-skinned. Make no mistake about it,he's black. As a Black man he has come in closer contact with more members of the Ku Klux Klan than most White people and certainly most Blacks, short of being on the wrong side of a rope. He is the first Black author to write book on the KKK by conducting in-person face-to-face interviews. As a result of the way he conversed with White supremacists and other racists, Dr. Davis eventually became the recipient of numerous robes and hoods given to him by KKK members who rescinded their beliefs after coming to know him. He had inadvertently stumbled upon a successful method of forming friendships between sworn enemies. His methods have made him the center of controversy in some circles where he is considered “politically incorrect,” but after proving his methods work, he has made supporters out of some of his detractors. As a award-winning musician Davis has worked with Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley's Jordanaires, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Legendary Blues Band and many others. He is also an actor who starred in the award-winning documentary Accidental Courtesy detailing his real life encounters with KKK and neo-Nazi members and has appeared in HBO's award winning series The Wire. His first book Klan-Destine Relationships was critically acclaimed and his second latest book The Klan Whisperer is now available. Dr. Davis has received numerous awards for his work in race relations and is often sought out by CNN, C-SPAN, The Washington Post, New York Times, Time Magazine and other media outlets as a consultant for his views.