It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Alicea Davis who in her early years, recalls a childhood of abuse, which caused her to grow up resentful. She is a former racist as she took out the pain of her childhood towards white America. And anger was racism's friend. However, all of that changed when she found her calling from 2006-2008. God came into her life, and healed her of her hurts and showed her a lighter path of love. She gave her heart to God and was loved in return. This opened her world to accepting people of all colors and she embarked on “a voyage to help people change their hearts.”
Davis believes that if she can overcome the hate in her heart, anyone could be taught to love. Today, she has a decade of ministry under her belt, but on top of that, she is a speaker on racial reconciliation and the founder of Friends of Reconciliation. Through her Christian non-profit organization, she hopes to reach people from all walks of life and invite them to open their hearts like she did hers and allow Jesus to save them.
When asked how she overcame her hate and how we should tackle the problem of apathy in today’s world, Davis reiterated that, “What we are doing right is that we are trying. But the conversations are going south very quickly. Arguing does not allow us to heal ourselves. Protesting and burning buildings is not the right way to achieve racial progress, it is through constructive conversation.”
Conversation doesn’t just take place between two individuals, as Davis has shown us, but through prose and ideas. She mentioned that poetry was something that allowed her to come to terms with her trauma and calls it her “first therapy” since she has been stringing together words of lyrical prose since she was in elementary. Her passion for poetry has never waned and until today, she continues to create literary art.
Cleaning up the church is another goal of hers due to the amount of racism that exists within the holy doors. She believes that it is her mission to promote healing and she is attempting to do so through her works both spoken and written, and she encourages everyone to join her in the quest to make the world a better place, to banish the darkness and come together in unity. After she found God, she decided to dedicate her life to spreading the good news that we are saved and can do better. After all, healing comes from within.
Of course, she doesn’t expect the world to change overnight or become paradise, but humans are capable of peace, and she is bringing a slice of peace wherever she goes by staying calm, open minded, and generous with her time and energy.
“Redemption is possible, one relationship at a time,” says the writer and poet. “We don’t change the world by force, we change it through love and connection, so I implore you my brothers and sisters, connect with each other and be kind.”
