Eric "Professor E" Davis

By Diane Urbani de la Paz

PORT ANGELES -- Early in his talk titled "Find the Martin Luther King Within You," Eric
Davis invited a young white man to lie on the floor of Peninsula College's Little Theatre.

As Teagan Cambier, 19, lay down in front of the roomful of spectators, Davis urged
everybody forward for an interactive lesson on oppression.

Davis, who teaches African-American studies at Pierce College in Lakewood, gave
Peninsula College's Studium Generale speech on Thursday in honor of Martin Luther King
Jr.'s 80th birthday -- and called the crowd's attention to what he called "a major cultural
shift."

His scene with Cambier was the centerpiece of the 50-minute program. "If I put my foot on his neck and hold him down, is that oppression?" Davis asked.
Yes, a few answered. King, Davis went on, inspired people to stand up together, in nonviolent protest -- marches,
boycotts, rallies electrified by his oratory -- to begin to overcome oppression.

Next Davis invited Cambier to rise up a few inches from the ground. "Hold it right there," he told the student. "I'm going to go get some water."
Davis sauntered to the side of the room; almost everyone stood still, watching. Cambier
held his upper body at an angle, as if halfway into a sit-up.

Nobody did anything -- except a young black man, who extended his leg to give Cambier
something to lean on. But as Davis came back to Cambier, the other man withdrew his leg.
"Holding up halfway is a little harder," Davis said, though he noticed that Cambier had
strong abdominal muscles. What he'd aimed to demonstrate was that, when laws such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and
the 1965 Voting Rights Act are passed, that's only halfway up into the battle against
oppression.

For the whole victory, social change and attitude change need to happen.Then Davis asked: "The rest of you were up and watching; why didn't you help him?" Answers included "I didn't want to interfere." And Davis believes that all too often, neighbors don't step in because the status quo feels safe; onlookers know the rules of society and aren't about to break them. "This is how oppression works," he said. "I held one guy down" physically, "and I oppressed
the rest of you without having to touch you."

A nudge for change. "I'm not trying to start a revolution at Peninsula College," Davis said, as the silence dissolved into light laughter. What he was hoping to do: Encourage students to stand up for positive change. "This is a special moment in time," Davis said. With the inauguration of Barack Obama, the first person of color to be elected president of the United States, a cultural shift is well under
way. "You have a responsibility . . . a chance," he added, "to help this change, help this shift."

This is quite a week, Davis said, with the holiday commemorating King's life today and the swearing-in of a biracial president on Tuesday.
He reminded his young audience of King's last speech, given the night before his April 4,
1968, assassination.

"I've been to the mountaintop . . . and I've seen the promised land," King said. "I may not
get there with you . . . But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the
promised land."
The promised land is a place where people treat each other as equals, even as brothers
and sisters, a land where all live King's dream.
"The idea that Dr. King put forth was: What can we do to bring the best out in each other?"
Davis said.

"Dream 2.0," he added, is not so much about legislation, but about "us looking at each other
as humans and asking: How can we help each other?"
Oppression is not gone from this country, Davis said. Its legacy persists as members of
minority groups, women and the poor struggle for equal rights.
Many Peninsula College students are the first in their families to attend college, he said.
Create welcoming culture

"Your responsibility is to create a culture here where everybody feels welcome. One bad
experience can make somebody walk away," Davis said.
"There are still people in our communities we need to uplift and support," such as Native
Americans, he added. "Smile at people as you walk across campus. Make students of color
feel welcome."

College is a time to learn, grow -- and look for ways to bring people with different
backgrounds together.
Davis pointed out that King was in his 20s when he became a civil rights leader; he was 35
when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was killed at 39. And Davis, who entered his fourth decade on Wednesday, added, "Those of us over 40 still have a lot left to do."
"The work has just begun. The election has happened. Now it's our time to change the
world." - Peninsula Daily News

ALEX DAVIS
Statesman Journal
February 13, 2003

A presentation led by Eric Davis called “Rap 101: The Message in Music.” The diversity trainer uses hip-hop music to stimulate conversation in connection with Black History Month at Chemeketa Community College. Chemeketa offers students a chance to learn about social change.

“Say they want you successful, but that ain’t the case You livin’ large, your skin is dark They flash a light in your face” — Hip-hop lyric from “Mr. Nigga,” by Mos Def

Eric Davis, diversity trainer and black history expert, lightly presses his hands on the
chest of a Chemeketa Community College student. About 30 people are gathered around
Davis in the school’s multicultural union. The student, 18-year-old Chris Ramirez, lies flat on a wooden coffee table. He is supposed to be a symbol for more than 400 years of oppression and is a tool to illustrate Davis’ message Wednesday as part of a Black History Month celebration.
“After 1950, I can’t hold you down anymore,” Davis tells the audience, lifting his hands.
That was the beginning of an era that included the landmark Brown v. Board of Education
decision of 1954, the Civil Rights Act a decade later and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Davis, of Seattle, asks Ramirez to sit up halfway, then hold the position.

“What would it make you feel like if you had been given legal rightsbut there was no social change?” he asks the group. “Stuck halfway?” someone replies.Davis nods. The demonstration worked.
But he’s not done yet. Scanning the faces, he poses a final question: “Why didn’t anyone help him?” “Because you’re in control,”another voice says. The audience returns to a semicircle of upholstered chairs in the union’s lobby. Moments later, heads are bobbing to a steady bass line and a string of hip-hop rhymes.

The goal of the two-hour presentation, called Rap 101, is simple: to use hip-hop as a
springboard to talk about multicultural issues and the importance of Black History Month.

The tone is light, but the topic is serious. Davis grills the audience on the number of black physicians in the United States compared to black professional athletes and how each is portrayed in the media.
He talks about rewriting high school textbooks to reflect a more well-rounded version
of black history. When things get stale, he cues up another song. “It’s like going to an ethnic restaurant. I can go up to five stars on you. I can throw out some old-school N.W.A. on you,” he said, referring to the hard-core rap group’s lyrics, “but I want you to make sure you can handle it.”

It’s clear this is not your father’s diversity program.
Chemeketa’s main campus in northeast Salem is one of the more diverse schools in the
Mid-Willamette Valley. About 11 percent of full-time students are Hispanic and another
5 percent are Asian, American Indian or Pacific Islander. African-Americans, at about 1
percent of the student body, make up the smallest minority group.

That’s one reason Vince Hawthorne appreciated Wednesday’s program. The 43-year-old moved to Salem from Los Angeles in late 2001. He said the area’ s small black population seems to cause some residents to be overly cautious in the company of African
Americans like himself. The presentation at Chemeketa was a safe environment in which
to air some of those issues.

Jesus Gutierrez, 23, agreed. “More people should have been here,” the Woodburn High School graduate said. “I was on the same page with him.” - Statesman Journal