Davis Working On Dfeeertatirzi For Doctorate
-V
gory Davis remembers
that at 12 he could not read
or write. Today he is
weridag an ids dtaeertaties
^HhTstory begins in Har
j lem. New York where be
1 Hved mdil his mother dtod
in 1962 “We then moved to
Charlotte and my grand
mother, Jamie Davis,
upon tut armrai ir Char
lotte Davis was scot to
Raleigh’s School for the
Blind. Even there his
leadership and aspirations
to achieve surfaced. He
dkfci’t feel that being blind
was a hindrance in be
coming an attorney. In
spite of the late start of his
education that’s what he
wanted to achieve. But
others did not possess his
same optimistic attitude.
, “A lot of people told me
-Jd never be afale to attend
college or become an at
torney. They told me I had
only pipe dreams. . .dreams
that I could not achieve.”
Because of these com
ments there was one short
time pertod in Davis’ life
where his dream began to
lade. "I quit I was 21
*- - - \ \
Gregory Davis
...Proving his worthiness
*
yean old with a 9th grade
education.'’
But what pulled him out
of the slump was his own
stubborness. “I’m stub
born...I had a (beam and I.
believed in God. God dkfa’t
put me on this earth with
out a purpose. I worked
bard to achieve...what I
have learned (fid not canoe
by an Inherited prams,
but by working hard.” *
Davis put aside the pre
conceived comments about
his limited capabilities and
began taking pUmm at
Central Piedmont Com
munity College. He began
with a ninth grade educa
non, rrom uctooer o* iwrz
until March 19n ho mated
and complatod Ua high
school odacation From
April 7S to December 74
La gull.. A_aaa
ne iuuy cwnpKtw two
years oi general couege
wotk Deiore entering toe
university of Nortn taro
line Charlotte in 1975, with
all A’s and ooe B. By 1S7«
lor of arts degree in Bch
giofi. His focus by Ms point
in his life had changed
from prelaw to minhtry.
L»av»s men recaveo me
Benjamin E. Mayes Fel
lowship to study on the
campus of Duke Univer
sity. There he completed
his Master’s of Divinity.
He is now working on his
doctorate in Afro-Ameri
can and Religious Studies
from the Union Graduate
School in CinchmattL He is
also a lecturer in the Afro
American-African Studies
Department at the Univer
sity of NC at Charlotte
In addition to his degrees
and position at UNCC. Da
—visit also an ordained and
certified minister. He is an
associate minister of First
Mayfield Baptist Church,
located on Oaklawn Ave
nue.
His advice to anyooe go
ing into either the educa
tion field or the ministry is
the following. “In «h»
tkn you can’t expect it to
be an eight to five Job. Vs a
24 hour Job. You have to
fake it seriously. In order
to help students you have to
nave pauepce wiin inose
wtm ire not outstanding *'
As far as the ministry is
««»cerned you also have to
be very serious and dedi
cated. Don't seek glamour
or wealth. Ihe ministry is
serving people...and you
will face disappoint
ments.”
For a sighted person col
lege means attending clas
ses, taking notes and study
ing- For Davis’ degrees, his
process was more detaOed.
“1 hired students to read
for me. I recorded all
lectures and came back to
the dorm and listened to
them. Then I wrote my
notes in Braille.
I depended on others to
read the material for me
and sometimes the stu
dents would show up and
sometimes they would not.
It wasn’t unusual for me to
seareh outs security guard
to read material to me.”
Today Davis stated that
college is perhaps a little
easier for the blind because
of computer technology.
In addition to his studies
Davis has always shown
exceptional ability as a
Pled
^____
...Over M year*
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rv-«-y^lJL.
..jOttr I* jmn
_1
PEPSI COLA BOTTLING COMPANY OF CHARLOTTE, INC
2820 South Boulevard, Charlotte, North Carolina 28224
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