Joseph King Davis, Jr.: Ebonettes 2020 “Dare to Make a Difference” Honoree

DURHAM, NC – Durham-native Joseph King Davis, Jr. plays a very vital and impressive role within the community where he has resided all of his life. Without a doubt, he is an individual who has made a positive impact on the lives of many young people and others in and around Durham and, therefore, “dares to make a difference.” 

Davis was honored with the Ebonettes Service Club’s 2020 “Dare to Make a Difference” Award (virtually)in the Education and Service to Youth category. Davis was to be presented with the award at The Ebonettes Service Club’s 48th Founders Day that was scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2020.  The Covid 19 pandemic canceled the celebration. Since 2002, the Founders Day program annually has showcased  hard-working Durham citizens in the “Dare to Make A Difference Recognition Program.”  

The other outstanding 2020 “Dare to Make a Difference” Honorees are Kasib Abdullah, Juliet Black, Garisha Davis, Queen E. Wooten Lawrence, Rev. Dr. William M. McCoy, Jr., Angela Pittman, Gail S. Taylor, and Judge Doretta Walker.

For more information about the Ebonettes Service Club, Inc., contact Tania Green-Clark, President, at mrstclark@gmail.com  or call (919) 622-3355.

About Joseph King Davis, Jr.

Joseph King Davis, Jr., a native of Durham, completed his formal education in the Durham Public Schools. After high school, he matriculated at North Carolina Central University and was awarded the Bachelor of Science degree, graduating with honors with a concentration in health, physical education, and biology. 

With his credentials, Davis was employed by the Durham Public Schools and began his professional career as an educator, officially retiring in February 2012 after thirty-six years of effective service in elementary and high schools. However, although Davis declares himself to be an official retiree, he continues working in the school system even today. His abilities and commitment to education allowed him to assume many different responsibilities and positions through the years: teacher, coach, administrator, assistant principal, athletic director, and science department chairman.

Joe Davis was chosen to be the first president of the Durham Black Men Tomorrow’s Teachers and has held memberships in the Durham Association of Educators, the National Association of Educators, the National Schools Conference, the North Carolina and the National Science Teachers’ Association, and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. In addition, he was employed by the Durham Scholars Academic Enrichment Program, sponsored by the UNC-CH Kenan Foundation and Global Scholars Academy.

During his tenure of service, he received several recognitions and accolades. Davis was selected as “Teacher of the Year,” once as an elementary teacher and twice at the high school level, and a semi-finalist for the Durham Public Schools’ “Teacher of the Year” competition. In 2010 he was inducted into the National Alumni Association of Hillside High School’s “Friends of Hillside Hall of Fame,” the highest award presented to a non-alumnus of the school. Additionally, his name is given to the “Biological Science Award” that is presented annually to a senior during the Awards and Recognition Ceremony and Senior Night; and he’s also listed in Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

Davis is a longstanding member of the St. Mark AME Zion Church. Always a faithful servant of the church, he currently serves as secretary for the Board of Trustees, chairman of the Mortgage Liquidation Committee, secretary to the Budget and Finance Committee, chairman of the Men’s Day Program Committee, and chairman of the Annual Conference (State Convention) Planning Committee. In the past, he was a member of the Board of Stewards, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees, and chairman of the Scholarship Committee, having received the first Blanche G. Hawkins Scholarship in 1977.

Besides working in the church, he has additionally served in many honored posts of the Durham District, Central NC Annual Conference, Southeastern Region, and the Eastern NC Episcopal District. He now serves as director of the Durham District of Christian Education, District Director of Sons of Varick, and the Eastern NC Episcopal District Men’s Ministry, and Conference Director of Young Adults in Christian Ministries. Davis was elected the 5th National President of the Assembly of Christian Educators of the AME Zion Church in 2010, providing stellar leadership as a connectional officer until the present. He was also the recipient of the first “Bishop Herman Leroy Anderson Exemplary Service Award,” the highest award presented to a layperson from the Central NC Conference. 

A member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., since 1976, Joe Davis has risen through the ranks of the organization on all levels, from Durham to the National Level. He is a dedicated member of the fraternity, having served in many capacities. A Life Member, he has been a part of several of the fraternity’s committees at the national level: Nominating Committee, Guide Right Commission, Reclamation Committee, Constitution and Statutes Committee, chairman of the Charles Rodger Wilson Leadership Training Conference, Protocol and Etiquette Committee, Chaplains Committee, and the fraternity’s Million Dollar Club of the Kappa Foundation. As a member of the Durham Alumni Chapter, Davis was a former historian and vice president of the Kappas of Durham Foundation, Inc., now serving as a member of the Foundation Board.

Regarding awards received by him, he was formerly selected as the local “Fraternity Man of the Year” in 1987 and 2015 and a two-time “Province Fraternity Man of the Year.” He has also distinguished himself in other ways: in 2012, the Undergraduate Leadership Conference of NC was renamed in Davis’s honor, the Joseph King Davis, Jr. Undergraduate Leadership Summit; the Triangle Area Founders’ Day Banquet, now in its 25th year of celebration, was his vision; and he has served as dean of students for the Summer Enrichment Academic and Residential Program, sponsored by NCCU.