James L. Davis was a single parent when male single parenting wasn’t in vogue, having reared two young men to adult hood, he is now a proud grandfather. He graduated from Crooms High School in Sanford, Florida where he was the President of the Student Council. Armed with a scholarship from the office of then Governor of the State of Florida, Haydon Burns, he attended Florida A. and M. University (FAMU) where he received a B.S. Degree in Political Science. He became involved in civil rights issues at FAMU, marching many times with Rev C. K. Steele, the co-founder along with Dr. Martin Luther King of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; the SCLC.
Additionally, his bent toward community service in the field of human rights guided him during those years at FAMU to a head a movement to save the starving children of the Nigeria/Biafra War who were during the Nigeria Civil War dying at a rate of over 1,000 per day. His efforts along with others, in bringing national attention to this issue led to the Red Cross going into an African country for the first time. He was awarded for his role in that campaign Florida A. and M. University’s First Martin Luther King Academic Scholarship. James in his business career has worked for Ford Motor Company as an award winning field representative in their Jacksonville, Florida office and as a stockbroker for E.F. Hutton in Jacksonville and for Merrill Lynch in Orlando.
But once again, his bent toward community service led him to work for the Orlando Urban League where he headed-up their Central Florida Black on Black Crime Program. It was his leadership that led to the Orlando office getting its first community service cash award from Walt Disney World during their annual community service award ceremony.
Having retired to his hometown of Sanford, Florida, Mr. Davis, has written
“The Fix This Time,” a book about expanding Social Security benefits to create jobs and spur demand. He is a local community activist in Sanford. James is also a staff writer for the internet magazine ThyBlackman.com where you can read his many articles having to do with the economy and job creation. He is a Bible study teacher of over a decade at his church, New Salem Primitive Baptist Church in Sanford, where he also heads the trustee board and has been recognized in Sanford by local black churches for his community service.