Holding His Brother Down
Five Years After Being Fatally Shot He Continues to Honor His Brother’s Crusade

 By: Jeffrey Valfer
TeenNewsNet Editor

    At 2:08PM on July 23, 2003 Geoffrey Davis’s life and destiny changed forever.  That afternoon Davis was at the print shop during his lunch break picking up posters for an event his brother, Councilman James E. Davis, was to be the Keynote Speaker, Family Day Fashionthon. 

            Geoffrey and his older brother James were more than just siblings, they were best friends and shared in a vision to get various cultures to understand each other and bring peace to their communities.  They started the “Love Yourself – Stop the Violence” movement 12 years prior. 

     When Geoffrey returned to work he was approached by a teary eyed co-worker.  When he asked “what was the matter”?   She could only reply “your brother, your brother.”  He knew James was giving a speech that afternoon at City Hall.  Immediately, another co-worker offered to give him a ride to City Hall.  It was on the way there that he heard over the radio his brother was fatally shot.  In the chaos of the moment, although he already knew the definition, he said out loud, “what does fatal mean”? 

     Stuck in traffic and trying to get to City Hall from Brooklyn he flagged down a NYPD squad car.  After identifying who he was, the Policeman took him into his car and put the sirens on racing not to City Hall, but the hospital.  It was within those minutes that he knew his brother was no longer alive.  As he approached the hospital and saw the news crews his “legs gave out.”  Recovering his composure, he went inside to say goodbye.    “I saw my brother’s body and touched his hand.” reflects Geoffrey.  “I then said this is what we talked about.  Then the words came down, hold me down Geoff, and I said OK, I got you.”  The two brothers often talked about what to do if something happened to them.  “James would often say hold him down, which meant don’t let this [the mission] go away.” 

     That afternoon James was lost as a victim of the violence he campaigned for years against.  His political opponent, Othenial Baez Askew, got a gun past City Hall security and shot him as he was giving a speech on the upstairs podium.  Police immediately shot back at Askew who also died. 

 Who was James E. Davis?

     Born April 3, 1962, James grew up in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY.  He graduated from PACE University with a Bachelors Degree in Sociology & Youth Agency Administration.  It was an event that occurred in 1983 that refocused his career ambitions and made him want to be a leader of change.  He was assaulted at gun point by two white NYPD officers who accused him of stealing the car he was sitting in, which was in front of his parents’ house.  The car was his mother’s, who tried telling the officers.  They ignored her and dragged James out of the car and slammed his head against the vehicle while they cuffed him.  No charges were brought against him, but he was extremely embarrassed by the incident.  

                                         Invoking Change

     James fought back against the discrimination of the NYPD in a different way; he became one of them and worked his way up to an instructor position.  In this role, at the Academy, James taught recruits what he felt the officers who arrested him were not trained on – proper procedures for arrest and how to interact with people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. 

      Being a Police Officer, James saw first hand how violence affected urban communities.  Again, as an advocate of change, in 1990 he founded the James E. Davis Foundation.  The Foundation, is a not for profit organization focused on waging a war against drugs, teen pregnancy and school delinquency.  He would often lecture that “teenagers are getting pregnant by irresponsible fathers, young people are carrying guns to schools and others are dropping out increasing their chances of becoming juvenile delinquents.” 

     His desire to fight this type of war was already in his blood.  Therefore, it was predestined that he would become one of the most recognized leaders of the revolution against violence.  James’ great grandfather fought in the Civil War, grandfather, WWI and father, WWII.   Like any soldier, fighting a war is not easy business.  James’ mission was to reach out to communities with high incidents of violence and give the children in those communities a future filled with promise and hope.  In his own words, the mission was to “declare war in our own communities.  Let the good people [men, women & children] rise up and, with a war-like mentality go back to our streets.  We must show them, that they, the good people, are the silent majority and it is up to them to take back their communities.” 

Corporate Responsibility

    Besides asking community members to be more responsible, James preached his message to corporations, such as Toys “R” Us and MTV with historic results.   James took issue with Toys “R” Us sales of toy guns that looked like real weapons; because kids were mistakenly shot and killed by police officers who thought the toy guns were real weapons. He preached, “kids are taking toy guns and spray painting them to look real because they are scared. They   have no power, and out there on the streets, a gun, whether real or fake, gives them a false sense of power.”   Michael Goldstein, the Chairman & former CEO of Toys “R” Us, agreed with James’ logic.  He immediately pulled the look-a-like toy guns off all shelves.

      After a major win with Toys “R” Us, James turned his attention to MTV.  However, they were not initially as cooperative.  He wanted MTV to be more responsible in what they broadcasted.  At the time he felt they aired music videos that had a detrimental effect on our nation’s youth.  He campaigned that “MTV is a vehicle that some rappers use for violence that is perpetuating itself upon young people across the country.  They are turning our youth into zombies of violence.”  Additionally, he felt that MTV was encouraging lack of moral responsibility because; by airing these videos they would make it profitable for artists to continue making demoralizing records and videos.  With a “never give up” attitude, he threatened to boycott their major advertisers.  It paid off!  MTV, not wanting the negative publicity or potential loss of sponsors, announced they would be changing their format regarding the content that they aired. 

                                                     Moving Forward

    Having a pact with James and not wanting the war to end ,Geoffrey took over the foundation and also campaigned for his brother’s council seat.  He lost to Letitia James, who is still in office and supportive of Geoffrey and his family.   Today Geoffrey still has many spiritual conversations with James.  “He tells me thank you for holding me down.  I reply, I told you I got your back.”  As a leader, Geoffrey often hears the echo of James’ voice in his head saying, “no emotions! Stay business orientated and we can do this and the world can get the true message.” 

     Among many other activities the “message” is heard during the annual James E. Davis Peace Breakfast (held at City Hall every July) and Love Yourself – Stop the Violence march (every August in Downtown Brooklyn).  For more information please go to  www.jamesedavisfoundation.com