AHEC gala featuring Daryl Davis, who converted 200 Klansmen and neo-Nazis

The Alabama Holocaust Education Center will hold a Red Carpet Experience for its annual “L’Chaim” gala on Sept. 10 with headliner Daryl Davis, a musician with a mission.

The leader of the American R&B Daryl Davis Band, Davis has performed with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Tina Turner, among others. But he is also known for seeking out dialogue as a means of conflict resolution, and over the years has engaged numerous neo-Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan, resulting in over 200 of them renouncing their former ways and even turning over their memorabilia to him.

“The Power of Conversation” event is produced by Central Alabama Theater’s Executive Producer Carl Peoples and Director of Education Carolyn Violi. The benefit for AHEC will include Grammy Nominees, Dove Award winners, world renowned artists, and award-winning TV, film and stage actors. There will also be local celebrities and elected officials on hand.

During his visit to Birmingham, Davis will speak to K-12 students and college students around the state, with friend Tamara Meyer, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, and Arno Michaelis, a former neo-Nazi skinhead who left the movement because of his interactions with Davis.

Michaelis founded what is described as the largest skinhead organization on Earth, and led a race-metal band that was highly popular among skinheads. As friends were being killed and he had his own daughter, he began to internalize words from a Black woman at McDonald’s who, upon seeing the swastika tattoo on his middle finger years earlier, told him that he was better than that.

Davis and Michaelis have performed together for several years, and both have books about their journeys.

Meyer is an author and educator who has also participated in dialogue with former Nazis and Klan members. She is the child of a Kindertransport passenger and active with the Kindertransport Association, and uses Holocaust stories to combat hate.

Among their talks will be a program at the Wright Center for school field trips on Sept. 11.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the program will be at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $36, and there is a code for complimentary tickets for students. Sponsorships range from $500 to the presenting sponsorship of $50,000.