Feb 19, 2021
On this podcast we look at what people are doing to improve their community. As part of our Race and Community Esteem Series, today’s guests are Daryl Davis and Jeff Schoep. They will be familiar to our audience, we have had them as guests on our show before: EP#56 Klandestine Relationships and EP# 67-Radical to Redemption, that introduced them as individuals and their stories. And today they are both here, joining us together! They have a shared history and work together today for Beyond Barriers USA from their own POVS but with a common cause, to create shifts in people’s thinking and towards PEACE AND RECONCILIATION.
Award-winning musician Daryl Davis tours nationally and internationally with The Daryl Davis Band. He has worked with Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley's Jordanaires, The Legendary Blues Band and many others.He is the first Black author to interview KKK leaders and members, detailed in his book, Klan-Destine Relationships. As a Race Reconciliator and lecturer, Davis has received numerous awards. He is a consultant on race relations and White supremacy. Daryl is also an actor and has appeared in the critically acclaimed HBO police drama, The Wire, and he is the subject of the documentary Accidental Courtesy, which filmed his real life encounters with Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazi leaders as he helps to dismantle racism across the United States.
Jeff Schoep is an international extremism consultant, human rights activist and public speaker. While working to promote peace building, Jeff helps to educate communities and policy makers on the threat of extremism and how to effectively both counter and prevent violent extremism. From 1994 until early 2019 Jeff Schoep was the was the leader of the largest neo-Nazi organization in the United States, the National Socialist Movement (NSM). In early 2019, Jeff retired from the NSM and walked away from the white nationalist movement in its entirety. In January of 2020, Jeff Schoep founded Beyond Barriers a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people leave extremist organizations as well as providing support and connections to individuals and communities affected by extremism. Jeff now uses his past experience and insights to help combat and prevent violent extremism. In addition to public speaking, he also provides consulting services and leadership skills trainings.