For his entire
adult life, Michael Davis has made a living off of his
imagination. As the creator of groundbreaking comic books,
television shows and reading programs, he has constructed
multiple cities, devised dozens of intriguing characters and
introduced the kind of stories that leave audiences longing for
more. Michael is well known as the co-creator of Static
Shock!, the Emmy award-winning WB & Cartoon Network show
about his life. His many clients have been as diverse as the
multicultural casts he has created. He is an entrepreneur,
teacher and mentor who snaps up opportunities to give others a
chance at success.
When Michael was a
fourth grader in Queens, NY, he was reading on only a second
grade level. That summer his mother gave him some comic books
to read “to keep him out of trouble.” This one wise act tipped
the scales of Michael’s life toward success. When he didn’t
understand a word, she pointed him toward the dictionary and
wished him luck as he figured things out on his own. By the
time the next school year started, Michael was a fifth grade
comic book fanatic reading at a ninth grade level. His love of
comics motivated him to pursue training as an illustrator at the
High School of Art and Design and the Pratt Institute. In 1987
Michael’s talent and creative potential attracted the attention
of Piranha Press, an imprint of the world’s largest comic book
publisher, DC Comics. He was chosen to illustrate ETC,
the very first book project from Piranha. ETC
established new frontiers in the business of comic book art.
Michael founded
his media company, Bad Boy Studios, that same year (yes, before
P. Diddy!). The studio’s most notable achievement was its
mentor program, another of Michael’s creations inspired by his
childhood experiences. “I am every poor black kid in America,”
he says. “I grew up fatherless, and both my grandmother and my
sister were taken by violence. If my mother and my cousin
William hadn’t been there tormentor me, I would either be in
jail or be dead today.” Michael’s desire to provide that same
support for other inner-city kids has produced a nationally
recognized mentor program in which 100% of alumni have built
careers in the media industry. In 1997, Mentor Magazine
named Michael “Mentor of the Year.”
Michael’s position
on the crest of big company comics’ freshest wave launched his
next unique venture, Milestone Media. Michael and three
partners founded Milestone in 1992. Milestone did the biggest
joint venture deal in the history of comics when they cut a
distribution deal with Time Warner, the first ever between the
media giant and a Black-owned company. Milestone was a comic
book revolution that spawned a full-scale multicultural universe
of heroes and villains and good stories well told. The new
universe of characters was distributed alongside Time Warner’s
DC Comics. Since its debut in 1993, Milestone has sold well
over 10 million copies worldwide, establishing itself as the
biggest Black comic book publisher in the world.
In 1994 Michael
was approached by Motown Records to run its new animation and
film division. As president and CEO of Motown Animation and
Filmworks, Michael created and placed into development
television shows at Disney, ABC, WB and Fox. Static Shock!
began its highly successful run in 2000 and is currently the
highest rated animated show on the Cartoon Network. It’s the
first and only Saturday morning cartoon show to feature a
teenage African American superhero.
Reading comic
books was key to Michael’s academic success. Inspired to
motivate students who struggle with literacy, he created The
Action Files (Simon and Schuster), the only comics based
curriculum/reading program taught in any school system. Michael
recognizes that if a child doesn’t learn to read, opportunities
for that child’s success vanish. His passion for literacy
prompted the creation of the Magic Media reading program, a
joint venture with Magic Johnson Enterprises, and the
co-founding of The Comic Arts Festival, an annual event in Los
Angeles that promotes literacy.
Michael describes
his latest project as “by far the greatest thing I’ve ever
done—this is my dream job.” Since 1996, when he was at Motown,
Michael has dreamed of creating a positive, faith-based comics
series. That moment has finally arrived. Michael has conceived
a new universe of characters and content for the Black mega
publisher Urban Ministries, Inc, a company with nearly forty
years of experience in the African American church market. Set
to debut in September 2006, The Guardian Line will
include all the hallmarks of a Michael Davis creation: strong
African American characters, a multicultural cast and a guy
named Larry. In February 2006 UMI named Michael VP of their new
media division. His partnership with UMI is a joining of two
market leaders in their respective industries. The Guardian
Line will be the biggest launch in comics’ history for
African American content—eclipsing even Michael’s own Milestone
Media!
Michael was twice
named to Hero Illustrated’s “100 Most Powerful People in
Comics.” He has been profiled in Black Enterprise, the
New York Daily News, the New York Times,
CNN, BET, MTV, The Today Show, Mentor Magazine
and the Comics Buyers Guide, to name a few. In
May 2004 Michael was awarded his PhD from the Hollywood
International Institute. He is also a highly entertaining and
much-requested lecturer who has served as a keynote speaker for
The New York United Federation of Art Teachers, The Partnership
for a Drug Free America, the Urban League and the FBI.
Michael Davis In
Search Of Entrepreneur Heroes Interview
Ralph Zuranski: Hi. This is Ralph
Zuranski. I’m on the phone with Michael Davis who is the
creator of a new comic book line; The Guardian Line.
Ralph Zuranski: It’s a comic based
series that teaches Biblical principles to kids of all ages
and also of all ethnic types. So, Michael, how are you doing
today?
Michael Davis: I’m good Ralph. How are
you?
Ralph Zuranski: If you could, explain a
little bit about your life and how you got into producing
faith based comics.
Michael Davis: I was actually trained as
an illustrator when I was a kid. I went to the High School
of Art and Design in New York as well as the Pratt
Institute. As an artist you tend to always be looking for
the next job, so to speak.
Michael Davis: One day I realized that I
was on the wrong side of the business. It was an advertising
company who was using my art to do a calendar.
Michael Davis: They were paying me
$5,000 a painting, which at the time in my twenties was a
lot of money, but they were being paid a million dollars for
the calendar. I realized that and the calendar was all of my
art work.
Michael Davis: I realized that I was on
the wrong side of the business.
Michael Davis: I started a company
called Bad Boy Studios and that’s before P. Diddy, a puppy.
After that, through a partnership with three friends of
mine, a company called Milestone Media.. Milestone Media
became the biggest African American comic book company on
the planet.
Michael Davis: From that I became
president and CEO of Motown Animation and Film Works, of
their television and film division.
Michael Davis: At that time I really
wanted to find properties which would resonate to African
Americans so I started looking at the black church.
Michael Davis: I wasn’t able to pull it
off back then but years later I met a guy named Jeffrey
Wright who runs Urban Ministries. We started talking. We
connected a few years after that conversation and that is
pretty much how the faith based comics came to be.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s pretty amazing.
It seems that you have had quite the success in a lot of
different areas. You have an animated comic show that’s one
of the best watched shows. It’s called Static Shock. Can you
tell us a little bit about that?
Michael Davis: Static Shock started on
the WB about five years ago. I think last year we moved to
the Cartoon Network. It’s an extremely highly rated show. We
are very, very proud of it.
Michael Davis: Actually the original
Static Bible, which I wrote, was based on my life as a
teenager. It’s pretty true to that bible, which is very
exciting. I’m very proud of that show.
Ralph Zuranski: I wanted to go ahead and
ask you some of the heroes’ questions. I have asked quite a
few heroes in the different areas of the military and the
Internet industry and in nonprofit organizations. I wanted
to ask you what do you want out of life, in ten words or
less.
Michael Davis: Oh, that’s easy. Peace of
mind and to make a difference and do some good.
Ralph Zuranski: What is the dream or
vision that sets the course of your life?
Michael Davis: Realistically I would
like to have some kind of impact on the lives of young
people. That’s pretty much why I create universes that are
filled with kids of all ages and ethnicity because it’s
great for kids to recognize themselves when they see
something on television or they read about themselves in a
book.
Michael Davis: So, that’s pretty much my
dream, to have an impact on the lives of young people.
Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to
stay focused on your primary goal?
Michael Davis: Extremely important. I
would say as a business person it’s the most important. I
feel too many people get sidetracked and there is an old
saying about being a jack of all trades and a master of
none.
Michael Davis: I’m one of those tunnel
vision guys. Step one, step two, step three, step four. So
it’s extremely important to stay focused on your goal.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you follow your
hunches and intuitions?
Michael Davis: Absolutely. I want to
have complete dominion over my life. I want to be the person
who decides what I do, how I do it and when I do it. It’s
taken me a while to get to that point but pretty much now my
hunches and intuitions are my life’s blood.
Michael Davis: When you come to
Hollywood you have agents, managers and entertainment
lawyers. A lot of those people are set up to say, “No.” A
lot of those people are set up to try to discourage you
because it doesn’t benefit what they do in terms of making
money off of your labor. I absolutely follow my intuition
and hunches.
Ralph Zuranski: What specific philosophy
or philosophies guide your life and your decisions?
Michael Davis: Excellence in what I do.
I want to be the guy who absolutely, when you look at the
work that I produce and you look at the things that I’ve
done, you can love me or hate me. But I would like to be
respected for being original and really being good at what I
do.
Michael Davis: That really drives my
philosophy especially in business and in life. I like to be
the best friend that I can be to people. I like to be the
best relative. I like to be the best neighbor, although
don’t ask me for sugar because I don’t want you coming to my
house.
Ralph Zuranski: What is your perspective
on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?
Michael Davis: Well, that’s easy. Do
unto others. I think that real morals are what you do when
no one is looking. I think it’s real easy to pretend to be a
certain way.
Michael Davis: I’m a very simple person.
I like to go to sleep knowing I’ve made the right decisions
that day, knowing that I haven’t done or said anything that
would cause anyone any pain, knowing that I made decisions
based on honesty and truth as opposed to based on personal
gain.
Michael Davis: Sometimes it’s easier to
say no than it is to say yes but if no is what you need to
say you need to say it and be okay with your decision.
Michael Davis: You can not regulate
morality which is what a lot of people in government try to
do. I think the best way to have a more moral society is to
lead by example.
Michael Davis: Parents and people in the
forefront, especially people who have influences on kids
like artists, hip hop artists, rock and roll artists, heavy
metal artists, it’s real easy to get caught up in that stuff
but you’ve got to stick to what it is that you know.
Michael Davis: What I know is that it’s
easier for me to be a morally upstanding human being as
opposed to someone who is out for self. Sorry about being so
long winded.
Ralph Zuranski: What place does the
power of prayer have in your life?
Michael Davis: Lately, quite a lot. What
I do is very, very solitary. I’m sitting at a computer most
of the day. Most of the stuff that I have to do
involves—it’s twofold. It involves the creation of the
content, then there’s the business of the business.
Michael Davis: Oft times when you really
want to be doing something creative you can’t because you’ve
got to tend to the business. What prayer has done for me is
it has calmed me down. It’s really like having a
conversation with someone who you know is always going to
support you.
Michael Davis: So lately quite a lot.
Ralph Zuranski: What principles are you
willing to sacrifice your life for?
Michael Davis: My family. I hate
anything that has to do with injustice. Living in Los
Angeles you often see things which are less than, I’m
looking for the right word here Ralph, which are less than
fair. I think that’s the right word. I hate seeing that. I
hate seeing people who are taken advantage of.
Michael Davis: There is a whole class of
human beings out there who simply don’t have the
infrastructure to combat people who are, for lack of a
better word, who are just mean.
Michael Davis: I think if my family was
threatened, if my family was involved, I would most likely
get involved in a moralistic fight over injustice or bigotry
or anything like that. I think that’s something that I would
be willing to give my life for.
Ralph Zuranski: Are your actions and
goals consistent with your beliefs?
Michael Davis: Absolutely. I sleep very
well at night knowing that.
Ralph Zuranski: Is it valuable to have
highly charged emotions about achieving your goals?
Michael Davis: Well, for me that’s a
funny question because I have an extremely over the top
personality. You are actually getting a very calm Michael
Davis. There are three types of people in the world, so to
speak, when it comes to me in terms of my life. There are
people who love me. There are people who hate me.
Michael Davis: Whether you love me or
you hate me everybody respects me because I can do what I
say I’m going to do. I have an over the top, in your face,
not shy about it personality. One of the things that I like
to do, and this is not my quote, this is attributed to Yogi
Berra. My thing is it’s not bragging if you can do it.
Michael Davis: If in fact you’ve done
something remarkable, and I’ve had some pretty good things
happen in my life, I think you should be as loud as you can
about that and bring as many young people into that fold to
let them know that yes, this is possible for you also. I did
this. I grew up in the projects. This is what happened to me
but this is what I have achieved.
Michael Davis: I’m probably not as smart
as you are. I’m probably not as astute as you are but this
is what I have achieved. This is what you can achieve also.
I’m an in your face guy. I’m like, bam, bam, bam, bam, in
your face.
Michael Davis: My highly charged
emotions I wear right on my sleeve. Most people get it. Some
people don’t but hey, I don’t eat spinach. Some people like
it.
Ralph Zuranski: Is it useful to take a
positive view of setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?
Michael Davis: Yes. There is one thing
that I love. What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. I
think that it’s absolutely true.
Ralph Zuranski: Is optimism valuable?
Michael Davis: To me, my optimism has
closed more deals. If you take a look at my resume I’ve done
some huge, huge things. I’m not saying that to impress you
or your listeners or readers.
Michael Davis: I’m saying that to
impress upon you that my optimism has gotten me those
opportunities. If you can get into a room with somebody and
you can express to them how excited you are about a certain
opportunity, a certain deal, a certain anything, you will
most likely get those people on your side.
Michael Davis: Now, getting the deal and
keeping the deal are two different things. If you are
optimistic at that meeting and you have this great idea to
change the world, if you are in that situation when you’ve
been given the opportunity to change the world and you do
not perform, well your optimism is pretty much done. My
optimism is the one thing that I will never change.
Ralph Zuranski: That sounds important.
Do you maintain a sense of humor in the face of serious
problems?
Michael Davis: I would probably maintain
my sense of humor in the face of a firing squad. I find most
things funny. Given my upbringing and the tragedies which
have happened in my life, I thank God that I have this kind
of sense of humor. The other side would just be too
depressing to even deal with.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you take time out of
your day to feed your subconscious positive thoughts about
you, your goals and your dreams?
Michael Davis: I think that’s very
important especially if you are in the field like I am in
terms of being a writer, being a creator, being anyone who
has to do anything which involves you sitting alone in a
room and trying to create something. I can not stress to you
the importance of the ability to just be yourself in those
moments.
Michael Davis: I’m not smarter than
anyone else. I am cuter. (Laughter) You’ve got to take the
time to really deal with yourself. You know, sometimes your
subconscious is telling you stuff that you need to listen
to.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s true. Do you have
the courage to pursue new ideas? Do you think it takes
courage to pursue new ideas?
Michael Davis: I think at this point in
my career, Ralph, I don’t know if it’s courage. I don’t know
at this point in my career if it’s courage but pretty much
how I’ve made my living since I was 18 has been coming up
with stuff that no one else is doing.
Michael Davis: And selling it to someone
who has the means and the budget for me to see it through
first as an illustrator, then as the owner of a company,
then as the head of a division for a major company, yadda,
yadda, yadda.
Michael Davis: I don’t know. I think it
takes courage coming out of an environment where everyone is
telling you, “Hey.” If you want to sit down and be an artist
and you’re living in the inner city and being an artist is
not the coolest thing in the world, that takes courage.
Michael Davis: I was lucky enough to
have my mom and my cousin to support me when I was living in
the projects wanting to be an artist and everybody else was
outside doing things which weren’t good.
Michael Davis: For me I think it took
courage when I was younger. Now, I think it takes fortitude.
I just think it takes drive. You’ve got to know what your
goal is. I know exactly what my goal is and a lot of young
people they don’t know but once you figure out what you want
it’s a lot easier to get there.
Michael Davis: So, courage for me, I
don’t know if I was that brave because I had a lot of
support even though I grew up in a really rotten area.
Michael Davis: But I can see how it
would take courage for a lot of young people out there if
they don’t have that support. That is another one of the
reasons why I am so adamant about telling kids that they can
do this.
Ralph Zuranski: Didn’t you grow up
fatherless and weren’t your grandma and your sister killed?
Michael Davis: My grandmother and my
sister were both taken by violence and I was raised by my
mother, my sister and my grandmother.
Michael Davis: The thing that I had to
learn really fast is I lost my grandmother and my sister but
my mother lost her first born child and her mother. I had to
pretty much grow up fast but it would have been really easy
for me to slide the wrong way.
Ralph Zuranski: Were you willing to
experience some discomfort in the pursuit of your dream?
Michael Davis: Every artist does. Every
artist does. This may be cliché but if you work hard for
something, you get a little hungry, it makes it all that
much better when you do achieve whatever it is that you
achieve.
Michael Davis: There is no doubt if you
have to work for something really hard when you achieve it,
it feels better. I don’t like it. Nowadays I’m in less
discomfort. (Laughter) Things are looking pretty good
nowadays but earlier in my career it was extremely
discomforting.
Michael Davis: I never really thought of
it as discomfort then. I thought of it as paying your dues.
Yeah. You have to experience some kind of discomfort
especially if you have a dream. If your dream is easy it’s
not a dream.
Michael Davis: A dream is something
which by definition is something which is so phenomenal in
your life that you are willing to make the sacrifices to
achieve that dream. If you have a dream that comes easy
that’s not a dream. That’s a thing to do. It’s not a dream.
Ralph Zuranski: True. It’s sort of a
slam dunk.
Michael Davis: Take a look at old money
people. There are families in this country who have extreme
wealth.
Michael Davis: More often that not,
maybe I shouldn’t say more often than not, very often, not
every family but in a lot of these families you will see
their kids having problems with drugs, their kids having
problems in school, problems with authority. Money doesn’t
really make you a better person.
Michael Davis: I really think that with
some of the suffering that you do, when you get that kind of
money, when you get your money you tend to appreciate it.
Michael Davis: The last time my mother
came to my home I was living in a loft in Tribeca in New
York City.
Michael Davis: This loft is 5,000 square
feet, 100 foot ceilings, beautiful, an absolutely stunning
Architectural Digest loft.
Michael Davis: My mom comes over and
checks my cabinets to make sure that I have enough to eat.
(Laughter)
Michael Davis: That’s grounded. I still
handle my money as if I don’t have another job coming. A lot
of people with real wealth would get in trouble because they
don’t get it.
Ralph Zuranski: Is it beneficial to make
decisions quickly?
Michael Davis: Now it’s beneficial to
make decisions quickly because I pretty much know what I
want. I have a goal. When you’re younger I think you really
need to spend some time and think about it, but not too
much.
Michael Davis: There are a lot of
people, especially kids of color but this applies to all
kids, where they have an idea, they have written a
screenplay, they’ve done some artwork, they’ve taken some
pictures, they are doing something artistically but they
don’t show it to anybody.
Michael Davis: They don’t show it to
anybody. They just keep it in because they want to get
better. They want to get better. They want to get better.
Michael Davis: That’s a big problem for
a lot of people because by the time they do show it to
people there are all of these problems and they get
discouraged because they’ve worked forever on it. I think
taking too much time is troublesome but not taking enough
time is troublesome also.
Michael Davis: For me now, in this stage
of my career I make my decisions very quickly because I’m
sure of what it is that I want. I really don’t work with
people who take their time doing stuff anymore.
Michael Davis: I just don’t. I’m just
not that guy. I don’t have that kind of patience for working
with people who simply take forever.
Michael Davis: The creative process is
one in which decisions should be made so that you can get to
the next level as opposed to taking your time trying to
figure out how to jumpstart something.
Michael Davis: My advice to younger
people is to take some time to make sure it’s what you want
to do. Don’t take too much time because the rest of the
world will pass you on.
Ralph Zuranski: Once you make those
decisions are you slow to revise or reverse them? Especially
if they are important decisions?
Michael Davis: Nope. Clean it up fast,
admit my mistakes and move on. I’m a paper trail guy and I
think this is also important for kids to understand,
especially people who want to get into the entertainment
business. Write it down.
Michael Davis: If it’s something that
you have to do, write it down so even if it turns out that
it’s a mistake you will have a written record of what you
did wrong so you can go over it in your head or at least go
over it so you know not to make that mistake again.
Michael Davis: My philosophy is clean it
up fast and go on to the next thing. Admit you’re wrong. If
you need to apologize to somebody, apologize. Clean it up
and go on to the next thing.
Ralph Zuranski: In the process of
becoming successful and achieving your dreams how were you
able to overcome your doubts and fears?
Michael Davis: My mom and my cousin made
it really, really, really easy for me by supporting me the
way that they did. I grew up in a place where if you walked
out the door on a certain day, a certain time of the day,
you could be shot. I never really appreciated that until I
left because my mother set boundaries for me and my cousin
allowed me to come and work with him on the weekends.
Michael Davis: It kept me out of that
whole Saturday night fever kind of going to parties and
rival gang territories and hanging with the homeboys.
Michael Davis: It kept me away from all
of that even though I was literally right in the middle of
it, it never really dawned on me how dangerous it was until
I got out because my support system was so good.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you readily forgive
those who upset, offend and oppose you?
Michael Davis: Ralph, to be perfectly
frank, I’ve got a real hard time forgiving people who do
stuff out of spite. I have a real hard time forgiving people
who do stuff because they simply don’t like you.
Michael Davis: There is a very, very
famous artist who works in the comic book community who has
called me a fraud because he thinks that if you’re going to
work in comics you’ve got to draw comics for 20 years and do
all the rest of this stuff to get your feet wet.
Michael Davis: You have to come up
through the grind stone. Well, I didn’t do that. I create
business plans and get it to people who make the decisions.
I sidestepped all of that stuff.
Michael Davis: Quite frankly, corporate
America is not stupid. They do background checks and all of
this stuff. A fraud by definition is somebody who can’t do
but pretends to do what it is that they say to get you to
buy into it so that you can give them money and then they
abscond with the money. A fraud doesn’t do the job.
Michael Davis: I pretty much do the job.
That’s what I do. I get a deal. I do the job. I service the
deal. I create this stuff.
Michael Davis: It’s a little hard for me
to forgive this guy because he is jealous of my success.
Eventually I will but I’ve got to be honest, people who
don’t like you because of your personality, I understand
that. It’s human nature. But don’t tell other people that
this is your opinion.
Michael Davis: He made the mistake of
telling one of my best friends that he thought I was a
fraud. My best friend is like, “Hey, I’m his best friend.
Don’t talk that way about him to me.” Most people understand
that my over the top personality is because I’m just a real
knucklehead. But he is really, really, really adamant and
upset.
Michael Davis: You don’t become
president of a major corporation because you can’t do the
job. Maybe one day I’ll forgive him but right now he’s on my
hit list, figuratively speaking. (Laughter) Now people who
oppose me?
Michael Davis: He hasn’t really done
anything to oppose me because he’s not at a level where
anything he says is important. He’s not sitting with people
who make those decisions. He’s not sitting with the decision
makers.
Michael Davis: People that oppose me I
don’t even think about. If you take time out of your day to
try to figure out how to stop Michael Davis and Michael
Davis is not even thinking about you?
Michael Davis: This is my philosophy
about celebrities. You’ve got all of these TV shows on the
air, talking about Paris Hilton and talking about Tom Cruise
and all of this nonsense.
Michael Davis: Somebody asked me as I
was coming out of McDonald’s how I felt about Tom Cruise’s
baby. They were interviewing people for a show. “How do you
feel about the fact that Tom Cruise’s baby hasn’t been
seen?”
Michael Davis: I said, “When you ask Tom
Cruise how he feels about Michael Davis, I’ll comment on Tom
Cruise. Other than that, what do I care?” (laughter)
Michael Davis: I spend no time thinking
about people who don’t affect me in a positive way. Lastly,
if you do something to me which causes me harm but you had
no intentions of doing that and if it’s a mistake, if you
apologize, I will forgive you in a heartbeat if you own up
to what it is that you have done.
Michael Davis: Quite frankly, Ralph
Zuranski, you and I both know that there are people out
there who do stupid things that affect other people.
Ralph: Boy, that’s true.
Michael Davis: They don’t think about
it. They do it. Those people I can forgive because that’s
not out of spite.
That’s not out of malicious intention. That’s simply
because they made a mistake. I can forgive mistakes all day
long.
Ralph: That’s true.
Michael Davis: Again, I’ve got to
apologize for being so long winded.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s okay. It’s
important to share what you believe because everybody wants
to relate to somebody that has emotions and they’re not just
a robot. They actually live, breathe and feel. Everybody
does. That’s just the true basis to life, especially in how
they relate to others.
Michael Davis: I sort of went on really
long about the guy who called me a fraud and I probably gave
him way too much power by going on that long but I will say
this. Those are the sort of things that you do if you are a
lesser human being in terms of your self esteem.
Michael Davis: My self esteem is very
powerful. I think I’m all that and a ham sandwich. I tell
kids, “You are all that and a ham sandwich.” Some of the
biggest names in the comic book and animation industry have
come out of my mentor program.
Michael Davis: These kids are not kids
anymore. They are grown men but they are absolutely the best
at what they do. What we try to do in the program is instill
in them a sense of self and a sense of purpose and their
work with a sense of excellence.
Michael Davis: I still get a little
pissy faced over stupid things people say about me.
Ralph Zuranski: I think we all do.
Do you experience service to others as a sense of
joy?
Michael Davis: Oh, yeah. That’s why my
mentor program, the biggest thrill that I get out of that is
seeing somebody achieve something they didn’t think they
could.
Michael Davis: My favorite time of the
year is Christmas because I just like doing stuff for
people. I’m impossible to buy for because I collect toys. I
collect GI Joe’s and Barbies but I want everybody to know
out there that real men can collect Barbies.
Michael Davis: It’s impossible to buy
for me at Christmas time because first of all the GI Joe’s I
collect are from the 60’s and you don’t want to spend that
kind of bank and not know whether or not I have one or not.
Michael Davis: Second of all I’m pretty
much at peace. I don’t need a whole lot of stuff, so buying
for me is like, “Hey I appreciate it but you really didn’t
have to.”
Michael Davis: I get a lot of joy going
out and buying stuff for my family and friends. I love that.
Michael Davis: I love the look on
parents’ faces when their kid gets into a school that they
didn’t think they could get into because they were tutored
by people in my program or by me.
Michael Davis: They get this sense of
excellence, this sense of self. So yeah; I really get a kick
out of doing stuff for other people. I don’t know what it
is. I just get a kick out of it.
Ralph Zuranski: When was the lowest
point in your life? How did you change your life after
winning a victory over the obstacles you were facing at that
time?
Michael Davis: I touched on this a
little before. When my sister died it would have been really
easy for me to end up in jail or dead myself.
Michael Davis: My cousin, William T.
William, that’s his name, and my mom, Jean, made it really,
really, easy for me to overcome those obstacles, those
dangers in my life.
Michael Davis: They really took care of
my not by preaching but by teaching. There was some
preaching in there but it wasn’t over the top. It wasn’t,
“You have to do this to be a better person!”
Michael Davis: It was, “Here’s what you
need to do. Here is how it’s going to affect you if you do
this. Here is how we are going to help you.”
Michael Davis: That was the lowest point
in my life but I was able to regain it so the path to
victory, so to speak, was the support system in my life.
Ralph Zuranski: So, it was family
members that helped give you the ability and the willpower
to change things for the better.
Michael Davis: Right.
Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to
believe your financial dreams will eventually become true or
a reality?
Michael Davis: For me, money has never
been a big deal. When my mother and my sister and I were
living in one room, our big deal was getting into the
projects. We were renting one room so we all slept in the
same bed.
Michael Davis: I guess I must have been
around six and my sister was ten. That’s still pretty big
for three people to be in the bed. We all slept in one bed
and I remember when we got into the projects how that was
like moving into Shangri La.
Michael Davis: Even though we were dirt
poor I never knew I was poor because I didn’t have any frame
of reference. I didn’t know that people had big houses. I
didn’t know any of that stuff.
Michael Davis: It wasn’t until I got
further along in school when people started buying Converses
and Pro Keds and I went home and told my mom that I wanted
sneakers for gym. She said, “Let Jim get his own sneakers.”
Michael Davis: I’ll never forget that.
(Laughter) Thirty years later that still holds up.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.
Michael Davis: I really didn’t know
that I was poor until I started making some money but money
is easy to make if all you want to do is make money.
Michael Davis: That’s a quote from
Citizen Kane. My main goal has never been about making
money. Money is important but it’s never been my main goal.
Michael Davis: If I have to think about
making money on a personal level, now when I’m in business
it’s really important to create a revenue stream so that the
business can be sustained. I understand that.
Michael Davis: My philosophy in business
is low overhead, high revenue. But as far as personal
finances, I never really worried about that.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you think it’s
valuable to know how much money you want to have in your
banking account, and by when, by setting goals?
Michael Davis: Absolutely. It’s very
valuable because again, in business and with your family if
there is something that you want to do. Knowing that you’ve
got $1,000 in your account and you want
something that’s going to cost you a $100, that’s nice.
That’s peace of mind.
Michael Davis: You have to keep track of
your finances and I would suggest that for people who are
starting out. I have a money manager but I manage my money
manager if you get my drift.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.
Michael Davis: I’m not going to be one
of those guys who finds out his money manager has invested
in seaweed off the coast of Jerusalem and now I’m penniless
because I let somebody do that. I’m not that guy. I have a
money manager specifically for my taxes to make sure that I
don’t go to jail.
Michael Davis: I’m not really interested
in somebody else controlling my resources. But yes, knowing
exactly how much money I have is important. I want to make
sure that I get this across to any young people who are
listening to it. It’s not how much money you have. It’s how
much money you can control.
Michael Davis: If you’ve got $15 dollars
in the bank but you can call up somebody in business who has
access to a lot more than that and they will let you utilize
their funds for your project or whatever, that’s very
powerful.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. I know there are a
lot of people who say that you should never go into debt to
achieve your dreams. There are other people who say that you
can utilize the capital of others to fulfill your dreams you
will achieve it a lot faster than if you tried to finance it
on your own.
Michael Davis: Well, I do a lot of work
in education. I do a lot of work with the school systems. I
do a lot of work with kids and I hear parents telling their
kids not to take out student loans. I think that is the
stupidest thing that you can tell somebody.
Michael Davis: Take out the student
loan. Go to college. Get a good job and pay the loan back or
don’t take out a student loan, don’t go to college, starve
and die.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. (Laughter)
Michael Davis: I’m debt free now but I
pretty much had a lot of debt.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you think that by
having that debt it helped you get to where you are now?
Michael Davis: Once again, I have a goal
and I’ve had a goal for a pretty long time. In this day and
age especially you can’t really go to college without
getting some sort of financial aid.
Michael Davis: For people to make
decisions who are 18 years old that they don’t want to take
out a bank loan, to me it’s my personal opinion that’s just
crazy.
Michael Davis: The whole thing about the
student loan is that it helps you get through school. Then
when you get out of school and you get a job you pay it
back. That’s a beautiful thing.
Michael Davis: The debt I’ve accumulated
in my life is mostly that kind of debt, student loans and
business things.
Ralph Zuranski: What is your definition
of heroism?
Michael Davis: I think it’s the way you
act and the good things you do when you don’t expect any
rewards or when people aren’t looking. I think a real hero
is somebody who makes a decision to do something to help
someone else just because they can.
Michael Davis: This may be a little bit
controversial thing to say but not too long ago there was a
sport, I won’t even mention the sport because you’ll know
what I’m talking about, but let’s just say it was a very
dangerous sport and a very big, big star was killed doing
this.
Michael Davis: All of these people were
calling him a hero.
Michael Davis: That’s not a hero. The
guy got paid a lot of money to do what he loved to do.
That’s not a hero.
Michael Davis: A hero is the fireman who
goes into a burning building who makes not a whole lot of
money as a fireman. You’ve got to have a certain kind of
drive to do that.
Michael Davis: A hero is the guy who
takes care of his family. A hero is the man who won’t desert
his girlfriend if she gets into trouble. A hero is a man who
takes care of his son. I don’t know who my father is but he
ain’t no hero.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.
Michael Davis: He left me. He left my
sister. My mom’s a hero. She never once thought of herself.
She always took care of me and my sister first.
Michael Davis: I hear a lot of this
stuff about heroes, man, but a hero is not somebody who does
something, dies and then is called a hero because he was
really good at what he was doing. No, no, no. A hero is
selfless.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. You had a pretty
rough upbringing. Did you ever create a secret hero in your
mind to help you deal with life?
Michael Davis: Johnny Gent.
Ralph Zuranski: That was your hero?
Michael Davis: I haven’t thought about
that in years. His name was Johnny Gent. Me and him were
boys. We were imaginary friends. I had a whole history about
him.
Ralph Zuranski: Really? What did he do?
Michael Davis: I should put him in one
of my books now that I think about it.
Ralph Zuranski: What were the qualities
or attributes he had?
Michael Davis: He just did the right
thing. I would have conversations with Johnny about not
doing my homework. Johnny would say to me in my head, “You
had better do your homework. If not, you’ll be in trouble
tomorrow.”
Michael Davis: Stuff like that. He just
pretty much did the right thing, which is cool.
Ralph Zuranski: Was his last name
G-E-N-T Gent?
Michael Davis: It was J-E-N-T because
you know I went to public school and I couldn’t spell.
Ralph Zuranski: He was a gentleman,
Johnny the Gentleman?
Michael Davis: Yeah, I never thought
about that but yeah, Johnny the Gent. Yeah, G-E-N-T. He was
just my imaginary very best friend who I haven’t thought of
in years until you brought it up. I’m going to put him in a
book!
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, you should other
than Larry the guy that you used his library card.
Michael Davis: Larry White. (Laughter)
To make up for my horrible indiscretion I always create a
character in homage to Larry. I realize that that was wrong,
wrong, wrong what I did.
Ralph Zuranski: You found his library
card and then you just used it and never took the books
back? Do you think the library came after that guy?
Michael Davis: It was a ridiculous
amount of books! Back in those days they didn’t come after
you. You could actually go into a library and ask for a
different card and they would just give it to you.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.
Michael Davis: We were on the honor
system back then.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.
Michael Davis: I did kind of atone for
it. I was fortunate enough to help create the Comic Arts
Festival out here in Los Angeles in conjunction with the LA
Central Public Library. I was fortunate enough to do that
and to help in that endeavor when they started.
Ralph Zuranski: Who are the heroes in
your life now?
Michael Davis: Well, my cousin, William
T. Williams will always be my hero. My mom is my hero. She
is retired now but she’s lived a real life.
Michael Davis: She is a real, real good
person. A lot of people who would have faced what she faced
would have just given up. Those are my personal heroes.
Michael Davis: There are some people who
I really, really admire. I don’t know if I would call them
my heroes but I admire them. I like Bill Gates on a business
level because Gates is a smart guy, and love him or hate
him, I can’t deny his accomplishments.
Michael Davis: The stuff that he’s doing
with AIDS and the stuff that he’s doing with education is
just phenomenal.
Michael Davis: To have that kind of bank
it’s really easy to sit down and go give a couple of million
dollars a year to charity because it’s a tax shelter. This
guy is giving billions of dollars and he’s devoting the rest
of his life to his main thrust, which is going to be helping
humanity.
Michael Davis: You create something like
Microsoft and then you decide at the height of your career
that you are going to now help humanity?
Michael Davis: That’s a hero! People are
still taking shots at him for a variety of different
reasons. You know, love him or hate him, business is one
thing but he’s a real man. He’s a man.
Michael Davis: Another person I admire
was Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra back in the 40s and 50s,
before the Civil Rights movement really got its national
television push, was advocating equality for African
Americans and Latinos.
Michael Davis: Frank Sinatra would
refuse to play places if they didn’t let Sammy Davis, Jr.
sit in the audience.
Michael Davis: And you know, it was
really 60s.
Michael Davis: There was something very
sexy about being involved in the Civil Rights movement. It
was the thing to do. He did it way before it started to
become a big thing in this country.
Michael Davis: One of the things I
admire about him, Frank Sinatra was the biggest star in the
world and he lost it all.
Michael Davis: He went back to playing
saloons. Imagine selling out stadiums and then a couple of
years later you’re playing saloons in Hoboken, New Jersey.
But when he got back on top he never forgot his friends.
Michael Davis: Love him or hate him, he
knew what he wanted. You knew what kind of person he was.
Michael Davis: But basically my heroes
are, like I’ve said, my cousin, my mom. From a business
standpoint I love what Bill Gates is doing. Batman.
(Laughter)
Ralph Zuranski: Well, let me ask you
this question because you have been through some tough
times. You’ve seen life in the inner cities. Would you say
there is racism going in both directions in our society?
Michael Davis: Well, I live in Los
Angeles, and I am a New Yorker, basically, though I live in
L.A. I can tell you, when I drive my car in
certain areas of the city, I am very conscious of the police
because there is just a stigma out there that young black
men driving really nice cars are out there doing something
wrong. I don't know if that is racism or
racial profiling.
Michael Davis: When I first moved here I
lived in Beverly Hills.
Michael Davis: I listen to a lot of
audio books. I was listening to an audio book outside my
house once, about two o'clock in the morning, and the cops
came up behind me, put the lights on, asked me what I was
doing.
Michael Davis: I told them I was
listening to an audio book. They asked me where I was going,
I said I was going home. They asked me where did I live and
I said, “I live right there,” pointing to my door.
Michael Davis: The guy said to me, and I
will never forget this, “What do you do to live in that kind
of a house?”
Michael Davis: And I made a really bad
joke, because I though he would get the joke.
He did not get the joke. He made me get out of my
car and put the key in the door to make sure that that was
my house.
Michael Davis: Now, again, I don't know
if that was racism as opposed to racial profiling, but I do
believe that racism still exists in this country. I think it
really is territorial and generational.
Michael Davis: I think it’s stupid.
I think the single dumbest thing on the planet is
religious wars and racism. I mean, come on.
It is the stupidest thing. But on
the flip side of that I think that today's kids really don't
see color.
Michael Davis: Well, most kids don’t see
color. You know, the media always gets blamed for certain
things, but I think, taking a look at advertisements and TV
shows, and you see more racial diversity.
Michael Davis: You see more mixed
couples in shows and in commercials, you see them in print
ads, and they just put it out there.
Michael Davis: If you take a look at
some of these dating shows, which are horrible, you will
often see two people dating who come from different races
and it is never brought up. In my opinion, and I am not a
psychologist, if you just let it be, people also will at
some point start to just let it be.
Michael Davis: But yeah, to answer your
question, I still think racism exists, and I think a lot of
it is so generational and so bound up in people.
Michael Davis: I don't think the LAPD is
racist, but just like the NYPD, a lot of these guys' dads
were cops, and their grandfathers before them, and there are
all these things. You get stories.
Michael Davis: “You know, once we had to
break up this fight over on Crenshaw Boulevard and all these
blacks …” You get this stuff embedded in you and after
awhile you start making decisions based on what your
forefathers have told you.
Michael Davis: Now before I moved into
the house I’m in now, I was in another one. And the first
day I was there, this guy comes across the street and
introduces himself. He is very nice and very pleasant.
Michael Davis: He is now one of my best
friends. But when he introduced himself he asked me what I
did, and I told him, and I asked him what he did and he said
he worked for the city.
Michael Davis: Later on when I was
talking to my wife, I told her I just met the neighbor
across the street, and I said I thought he was a cop. Now,
he was a cop. And the reason he did not tell me he was a cop
was because as an African American male in L.A., there are
just these racial overtones, and he feels it.
Michael Davis: He is not responsible for
it, but he feels it and is cautious about letting me in on
that. I guess he thought I would figure it out.
Michael Davis: Normally you don't say,
"I work for the city.” You say you are a city planner, or "I
work for sanitation,” or, “I work for the Port Authority.”
He said, “I work for the city,” as opposed to, “I’m a cop.”
Michael Davis: He didn't want to start
off on the wrong foot. He is literally one of my best
friends now. I would take a bullet for him, he is such a
great guy, so cool. But when he gets out of his patrol car,
he feels that tension. I just think a lot of this is
generational, Ralph.
Michael Davis: But in the stuff we’re
doing in the Guardian Line, if you take a look at the bible,
the creative bible, not the Bible Bible. We've got maybe 300
characters and it is probably the most diverse universe in
comics.
Michael Davis: It really is. It is very
diverse. Urban Ministries is a Christian company. My books
are really about good versus evil and doing the right thing.
They are a Christian company, but in these books there are
Jews and Muslims, we talk about racial, religious, political
things.
Ralph Zuranski: Sort of a reflection of
real life.
Michael Davis: That is exactly what it
is. The city that all this takes place in is called the City
of New Hope, or New Hope City. There are different
neighborhoods which reflect different ethnicities, just like
any other city.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, how important is
it to have trusted friends or a mastermind group to bounce
your ideas off?
Michael Davis: You know what? For the
most part in my life I have been a loner. I am not a joiner,
which is fascinating now that I work in Urban Ministries,
because I actually love that company.
Michael Davis: The majority of my life I
have made a living all by myself, sitting in a room and not
having to deal with the whole corporate thing. They are such
a great company that it is really like a family. It’s like a
family business, it really is.
Michael Davis: I generally don't share a
lot of stuff with people. I will get feedback from the
artists and writers at Urban Ministries, and the people who
are working on this stuff. But I am not one to show cousins
and people, “Hey, do you want to take a look?” I just don't
do that.
Michael Davis: I really don't like
talking about my work with people who do it, because there
is a disconnect. But lately I have spent a lot of time
talking to people, like my best friend runs the animations
on BET, so we spend a lot of time talking about certain
projects we might want to do together, bouncing things back
and forth.
Michael Davis: That is actually how we
created Milestone. We were sitting around thinking about
what would be cool, and then we said, “Hey, why don't we
make a company out of this?”
Michael Davis: So on that end it is
very, very important for the big picture, but for the little
things, in my day to day business and creativity, it is
pretty much done before anybody sees it.
Michael Davis: Then whatever feedback I
get, I change it if I have to or I make notes. I am not
about to get up and say to my wife when I finish something,
"Hey, Baby, want to see this and tell me how great I am?” I
am just not that guy.
Ralph Zuranski: I was thinking more
along the lines of your mentorship program and how important
it is that people who are successful mentor other people.
Michael Davis: Now that is a different
question, Ralph. That is absolutely, extremely important.
One of the great things about the mentor program is when you
take these kids to a professional artist’s studios and you
see the look on the faces of these kids when they see that
you can do this. You can live like this. You can have an
exciting life doing what you love.
Michael Davis: Like one of the things I
used to do when I lived in New York, we get a lot of
resistance from inner city parents, because you want your
kids to be doctors or lawyers, or to go to a trade school or
something. But art? Oh, come on now, that is crazy!
Michael Davis: What I would do is have a
parents' night where I would invite all the parents to my
house.
Michael Davis: They would come to my
house and it was pretty nice, and they would see how I was
living, and I would say "I made every single cent for
everything that you see in this home as an illustrator, and
I think your son or daughter is as talented if not more
talented than I am. And they actually have a jump on what it
is that they’re doing because I did not have anybody helping
me at this level.”
Michael Davis: I had people supporting
me but I wasn't working with an illustrator, I wasn't
working with a photographer, I wasn't working with a writer.
I just had people telling me it was okay that I did it.
Michael Davis: And that is important. So
a lot of these problems these young artists have, they go
home and they are beat down by their friends and families.
"Why are you doing that? You should go out and get a real
job.”
Michael Davis: I actually had a
girlfriend tell me that. I won't say her name. I haven't
seen her in 20 years. With my luck, she will read this. When
I lost my job, I was teaching during the day, and at night I
would work on my portfolio.
Michael Davis: When I lost my job and
came home, instead of telling me "Don't worry about it,
Baby, you will find another job,” she told me to give up
this pipe dream of being an illustrator and get a real job.
And the next day she came home with an application to the
post office! It was not supportive. So it is extremely
important.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you think some of our
worst enemies are family and friends that love us and don't
want to see us get hurt?
Michael Davis: I won't say they are
enemies, but I certainly will say they are some of our
deterrents. Here's the thing.
Michael Davis: An enemy is out to do you
harm. Family and friends really think they are helping you
by telling you that you don't want to do that. They really
think they are helping you. Enemies want to see you
self-destruct.
Michael Davis: But absolutely, one of
the worst things to happen to you is to have someone you
love and respect tell you that you can't do something.
Michael Davis: And you know what? If you
can't do it, you will eventually find out that that is not
for you. But you should be the one making that decision. I
am all for people giving other people constructive
criticism, but at the end of that constructive criticism
there should be these words:
Michael Davis: "You need to work harder
so you can get better.” As opposed to, "You suck. Do
something else."
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. Do you think it is
important to surround yourself with people who support your
dream rather than people who try to crush it?
Michael Davis: Actually, my philosophy
is just a little bit different. I think it is important to
surround yourself with people who support your dreams, yes,
and I also think it is important to surround yourself with
people who do what you do who are better than you.
Michael Davis: I think competition is
probably the best teacher. When you see people and you see
what they can do at their age, or they are the same and you
see how much better somebody is than you, that makes you
work harder than anything else.
Michael Davis: One of the problems with
art schools is a lot of the instructors are working
professionals so they don't tell students everything they
need to know, because they are training their own
competition. If you are an illustrator, and I want to be an
illustrator, why am I going to tell you all of my secrets so
you can go out and possibly get my job?
Michael Davis: So one of the things I
tell kids is that their instructors have a responsibility up
to a certain point, but your success is all on you. Your
instructor is not responsible for your success. Your success
is all in how hard you work when you leave that classroom,
how hard you work when you leave your day job and go home to
work in your studio.
Michael Davis: There are so many
actresses and actors who come to Hollywood, and they get
these jobs working at restaurants and such.
Michael Davis: I know this one
particular young lady, very smart, who has five or six jobs,
and she still thinks she is going to be a big star, although
she complains all the time. I told her one time, "You know,
your job is your craft. These jobs that you have are to
simply make sure you can eat.
Michael Davis: Your job is your craft.
So if you are working 18 hours, maybe you should work 8
hours and do 16 hour perfecting your craft. But if you don't
put in the time... Everybody who comes out here is pretty,
or handsome, and can act. Everybody who comes to L.A. is
that person.
Michael Davis: So you have to make sure
you do due diligence, that your work ethic is far and above,
because everybody is talented.”
Michael Davis: Everybody is good at what
they do. When you are from Larryville, Kentucky and you come
out here, it is about making a living at doing what you do.
You have to raise your game.
Ralph Zuranski: You think it is
important to be unique and stand out in some special way?
Different than everybody else?
Michael Davis: Yeah. Absolutely. I think
there are three important things. Know your craft, if you
are a writer, a photographer, an actor, a cinematographer,
be excellent at what you do.
Michael Davis: Never stop learning. Know
the history of your craft. Some of them, their entire
knowledge is based on some comic book guy they like to draw.
That is like saying the only movie star you like is Wesley
Snipes, but you don't know who Humphrey Bogart is.
Michael Davis: And three, show your
individuality. A lot of people come out here and go on every
single audition that they can.
Michael Davis: A lot of people come out
here and think it is a numbers game. In some ways, it is a
numbers game. If you go to a million auditions, you are
bound to book a job. Let's say you audition for Martin
Luther King. If you are a white guy, you are not getting
that job.
Michael Davis: But you get people who go
to auditions who are looking for people who can swim and
they go there hoping they can fake it. If actors and
actresses would define what they do and say, "Okay, I am
making these calls to these agencies and these casting
directors and I am going on these auditions because these
are the things I know I would be good at.”
Michael Davis: If they would define it
as a business they would do a little better, yeah. To answer
your question, which I forgot!
Ralph Zuranski: To be unique, to examine
oneself in that area.
Michael Davis: A lot of people out here
are actresses and I am lucky enough to work in the industry.
I ask people, are you a singer who can act, or are you an
actress who can sing? Don't be a singer/actress.
Michael Davis: Pick one. But this whole
singer/actress thing, it is like jack of all trades, master
of none. I have done a lot of different things. I have done
TV, graphic design, illustration, comic books, but for me it
is the same job.
Michael Davis: I create content. That is
what I do. I create content. TV, comic books, illustrations;
this is all the same thing to me. Creating content. I am not
a TV producer; I am a guy who creates content.
Michael Davis: That is what I do. And a
lot of people, they want to be everything. "I am a singer; I
am an actress; I am a ventriloquist; I am a juggler!” Nope.
I create content.
Ralph Zuranski: Get to know who you are
and what you are doing and what you do best.
Michael Davis: If you are a phenomenal
photographer, you can take any kind of pictures. One of the
reasons comic books make great movies is because they are
great stories.
Michael Davis: Frank Miller, phenomenal
comic book artist and writer, isn't doing anything different
with the movies. He is doing what he does. He is creating
content. But now he is creating that content for a different
medium.
Ralph Zuranski: Who do you feel who are
the real heroes today in our society who are not getting the
rewards and recognition they deserve?
Michael Davis: Teachers. I can say that
without even thinking. Teachers. Teachers. Teachers. The
future of our country, the future of our planet, rests in
teacher's hands and in their ability to reach young minds. I
think clergymen also. One of the tenets of Christianity is
that you bring other people to Christ; you give them the
opportunity to come into that.
Michael Davis: A lot of times you can be
in the wrong place at the wrong time trying to teach that
lesson, because it gives them something to look up to. Being
a rock star is very cool and glamorous, but being a teacher
has real substance.
Michael Davis: I still remember my sixth
grade teacher. She was phenomenal. I was a class clown, but
she said, "You know, Michael, you do your work and I will
give you five minutes just to be stupid.”
Michael Davis: She didn't try to
pigeonhole me. And I used to couldn't wait for that five
minutes! I was able to cut up in class! I do a lot of
lecturing and public speaking and I am a motivational
speaker on some levels.
Michael Davis: I talk in front of just
about everybody. And I know for a fact that my ability to do
that now came from Mrs. Rabenow letting me have my five
minutes. The hardest thing in the world when you are a kid
is to get up in front of people, and I loved it! Yeah, I
think teachers are it!
Ralph Zuranski: I think that is one of
our problems with our world today. Schools don't allow kids
to be individuals. They just try to look at every one of
them as the same.
Michael Davis: The only reason I have
any use for private schools, because I think private schools
are kind of elitist and it is not fair, but it is because
they really nurture individuality.
Michael Davis: One of the problems with
people of color, in my opinion, is that their parents are
usually so busy trying to work that quality time spent with
one person at home is difficult.
Michael Davis: Reading and writing is
one thing, but it is the little things that really help you
get ahead.
Michael Davis: Personality, the
importance of not being late, the importance of dressing
well, et cetera. Private schools really nurture that
individuality. I almost taught at one, which would have
changed me entirely as an artist if I had gone to teach at
this school. It was making it really hard for me not to
because it was such a great deal.
Michael Davis: I just would have been a
different person.
Ralph Zuranski: What do you think are
the things parents can do that will help their children
realize that they can be heroes and make positive impact on
the lives of others?
Michael Davis: Listen to their kids.
Talk to their kids. Be interested in what their kids do.
Little things, like if a kid draws a picture and they put it
on the refrigerator, that’s kind of cool for a kid. Just
nurture what it is they’re doing, but be parents.
Michael Davis: My mother was not my
friend. My mother was not a disciplinarian but I knew for a
fact that no meant no. She was not my friend. She was not my
buddy. If I did something wrong I was in trouble.
Michael Davis: I was a good kid,
collectively speaking. My mother only hit me once. That’s
all it took. (Laughter) That was it, dude! My mother hit me
once and I knew I was never doing that again.
Michael Davis: Mostly you can listen
those kids and know that those kids are not dim. You see
these nanny shows on TV, Ralph, like Nanny 911 or Super
Nanny?
Michael Davis: Very seldom do you see a
black or Asian kid on those shows. You don’t talk back to
your mother, you respect your mother and father. Martin
Luther King said, “If you’re a street cleaner be the very
best darn street cleaner you can be.”
Michael Davis: Respect yourself. Respect
others around you. Respect others’ cultures, others’
religions.
Michael Davis: Once you get to the point
where people understand you’re doing the best that you can,
I think that makes you a hero. You’re doing the best that
you can and you are acknowledging them in your space and
you’re doing the things that people can go, “Oh.”
Michael Davis: If someone can say, “You
should look at what Michael Davis is doing,” if someone can
say that to their kid, I would feel like a hero.
Ralph Zuranski: You know, it’s funny.
How does it feel to be recognized as a social hero? Because
I’m recognizing you right now.
Michael Davis: I don’t know. As much
smack as I talk, Ralph, I really am humble when it comes to
talking about this sort of stuff. I’ll tell you just how.
Years ago I had an auditorium named after me.
Michael Davis: It was a very big honor.
They had a marching band there, they had all this stuff,
they had these dignitaries and mayors and the governor. I
only invited one person to come with me.
Michael Davis: You know, usually you
invite fifty people to sit in the front row so you can have
your moment.
Michael Davis: My mother calls me now
when she sees something in the newspaper and she’ll ask,
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Michael Davis: “I don’t know. A guy just
called me up and he wanted to interview me.”
Michael Davis: Here’s what I do know. I
feel honored and privileged to be able to talk directly to
the kids and to the parents of the kids who are going to be
reading this.
Michael Davis: Hopefully I didn’t
embarrass myself too much. I feel honored that you would say
that and I feel a great pride to be grouped with the other
people I’ve read about on your site. Very impressive.
Ralph Zuranski: The most important thing
is making a positive difference in the lives of others. It’s
really true that a hero is someone who has given their life
to something bigger than themselves and they do the right
thing when no one is watching.
Michael Davis: Absolutely, yes. I feel
that exact same way. Absolutely.
Ralph Zuranski: How will being
recognized as a hero change your life since you’re
constantly creating heroes and illustrating them? How do you
think being a real life hero will change your creation of
the heroes you create with your art?
Michael Davis: I don’t really think it
will change me at all at any level. If you love what you do,
like I do, you’re pretty much content with your station in
life. If I was never recognized and I could do what I’m
doing, I’d be okay with that.
Michael Davis: As a matter of fact, it’s
funny. We did a Guardian Line preview book. I did all the
characters, I created all of the story lines, I created the
universe, I created the city. But in the Guardian Line
preview book my name isn’t mentioned once.
Michael Davis: Someone said, “Why isn’t
your name mentioned?” And I said, “I don’t know.” It’s just
not a big thing to me.
Michael Davis: I’m just glad to do what
I do. I’m a very lucky individual. Luckier than some, not as
lucky as others. But I’m okay with my station in life.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have any good
solutions to the problems facing society, especially racism,
child and spousal abuse, and violence among young people?
Michael Davis: I don’t know if they are
solutions but I certainly have opinions. I think a lot of
the stuff we’re involved in, a lot of what you mentioned,
are parental problems. Upbringing problems. I grew up in a
horrendous neighborhood but I turned out okay because my
mother, who was working two jobs, found a way to take care
of me. She never complained. She just did it.
Michael Davis: Men who beat women or
women who beat men should be punched in the head on national
TV. I really think people should be held responsible for
their actions.
Michael Davis: I’m pretty much a liberal
Democrat in most things in my life except when it comes to
crime. Especially against women, because I have personal
issues with that because of what happened to my sister and
my grandmother.
Michael Davis: I really think people
should be absolutely made to take responsibility for their
lives.
Michael Davis: I think society at
certain levels should stop making excuses for bad behavior.
You know and I know when something is wrong. Most people
know when something is wrong yet they do it anyhow.
Michael Davis: I think, and again, this
may not be politically correct, but I think if you’re caught
on tape committing a crime, there shouldn’t even be a trial.
You see people on tape doing something horribly bad. You
know it’s them and they know it’s them. Yet they plead not
guilty!
Ralph Zuranski: That’s pretty hard to
believe, isn’t it?
Michael Davis: They plead not guilty
because of something that happened to them when they were
seven years old, or something. I think people should be
responsible for their actions. I think that we as a society
should stop making excuses for people when they do bad
things.
Michael Davis: And I think that if you
do a bad thing, say you’re sorry, beg for forgiveness, and
go on with your life. Too many people say, “This is why I
did it, and this is why, and this is why.”
Michael Davis: My solution is to take
responsibility for your own actions. Which may or may not
happen. I’ve made some horrendous mistakes and the biggest
mistakes I’ve made was to not take responsibility for my
actions when I did these things years ago.
Michael Davis: Now when I do something,
I say, “I’m sorry. My bad, my bad.”
Ralph Zuranski: If you had three wishes
for your life and the world that would come true instantly,
what would they be?
Michael Davis: That’s hard! First of all
we’d find true peace. Absolutely true peace. And even if you
disagreed with someone it wouldn’t end with dropping another
bomb on you. You can still be an individual.
Michael Davis: You can still disagree.
But your fighting would be confined to verbal jousting. “I
don’t like you.” “I don’t like you either, but I’m not about
to bomb your country because I don’t like you.” So peace
would be the first thing.
Michael Davis: The second thing would
probably be to see my sister again, because at that age when
she died, I didn’t really have a whole time to bond with
her. Like any other brother and sister, we were mortal
enemies.
Michael Davis: I loved her and she loved
me, but she was my big sister and I was her little brother
and it was my job to be a pain in the butt. That’s like in
the little brother handbook.
Michael Davis: I was a pretty good kid,
but my sister, for the most part, was always getting into
trouble. She used to get a spanking fairly regularly. My mom
could give a good spanking. Long story short, I told you I
was only hit once?
Ralph Zuranski: Um hmm.
Michael Davis: Well, the day that I was
hit it was because I talked back to my mother. I did
something stupid and then I talked back to my mother when
she asked me if I did it. I said, “Yeah, I did it.
Michael Davis: So what?” She said,
“Alright. Tonight you’re going to get your butt kicked.” I
said, “Whatever.”
Michael Davis: I can’t tell you what she
used to beat us with because in the year 2006 it would be
child abuse. (Laughter) Back then it was just good
parenting.
Ralph Zuranski: Um hmm. It definitely
got results.
Michael Davis: You know how some people
have this little paddle hanging up in the kitchen for
spanking? “Go get the paddle.” My mom had a .45 automatic
hanging up there. “Go get the gun. I’m going to have to
shoot you in the leg so you won’t do this again.”
Ralph Zuranski: I guess that got your
attention!
Michael Davis: So my mother is coming
into my room to beat me. My sister sees her coming into my
room with the item she’s going to use to beat me. My mortal
enemy, my mortal enemy, comes in.
Michael Davis: I’m thinking, “What’s the
big deal?” She comes in and stands between my mother and me
and says, “You can’t beat him with that. He’s not ready for
it.” That’s when I knew true fear. When my sister stood up
for me.
Michael Davis: So, we got closer as we
got older and I just wish I could see her again. That would
be my second wish. I guess I will see her eventually.
Michael Davis: I’m not very
materialistic, man, so I don’t really have a whole lot of
stuff that I would wish for. My life is pretty full. But I
guess if I had a third wish, it would be for any stupid
mistake that I’ve ever made—and I’ve made a few—for me to be
able to rectify that.
Michael Davis: You know what? That’s a
bad wish. Take that one out. I wish for…I said world peace,
and to see my sister again. A pot of gold? Some Skittles?
Ralph Zuranski: Okay. At least you
didn’t ask for more wishes!
Michael Davis: Yeah, that’s the old
story. Ask for three more wishes! How about
free cable?
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, two’s okay. Peace
and the pot of gold is fine! Let me ask you
one more because I really don’t know how busy you are and I
appreciate your time.
Michael Davis: No, hopefully I wasn’t
too long winded. I pretty much talk for a living and I
really get tired of doing it. But you make this very easy
because these are great questions.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, it really shows
how people become successful and what their thought process
is. It’s not so much about the special tricks that you use
but it’s about the type of person you need to become to be
successful.
Michael Davis: By asking these questions
of someone like you and other people who are extremely
successful, young people have the opportunity to see, “Well,
gee, that person is unique. They love what they do.”
Michael Davis: It gives them a good
example of achieving their dream and becoming the unique
person God created them to be and not being afraid but
having the courage to be who God created them to be.
Michael Davis: I believe fear is the
single thing that keeps most people from doing what they
need to do. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of fear!
I’m not being funny, I’m not being facetious, and I’m not
being overly complimentary, but I will tell you this. I’m
really hard to impress.
Michael Davis: People show me stuff and
I say, “Yeah, that’s nice, but you know, whatever.”
Michael Davis: I’m really hard to
impress. But what you’re doing with this is very impressive.
For me, that is the greatest compliment I can give. It is
very impressive. I just love stuff like this.
Michael Davis: There’s not enough of
this kind of stuff being done! Like I said before, I feel
honored to be a part of this. I do interviews all of the
time, but I’m actually excited to read this one. I was on TV
and someone sent me a link to the video clip. They sent it
to me yesterday and I have yet to look at it.
Michael Davis: I just think, “Whatever.”
But this is exciting and I am very proud to be involved in
this.
Ralph Zuranski: Thank you. And you know,
it’s interesting that some of the most profound interviews
I’ve done so far are with black men who’ve overcome
tremendous difficulties in their lives, like Willie
Crawford, Stephen Pierce, Orrin Hudson. Probably one of the
most amazing people in the interviews was the black cop on
Bay Watch, Gregory Alan Williams.
Michael Davis: He was the first hero
that one of the high school kids interviewed because he
actually saved the life of an Asian man during the L.A.
riots in 1992.
Michael Davis: That’s what I’m talking
about.
Ralph Zuranski: It was incredible. It
was one of the best interviews of anyone I’ve ever done. He
was so articulate and he really just set the tone for the
entire program and he inspired me to carry on for 14 years.
So just for people like you that have been successful and
overcome tremendous things, I know it’s so inspiring for
young people. So I really appreciate your time.
Michael Davis: No, no, not at all!
Anything else I can do for you, you name it. Any art work
you need, whatever it is that you need, just let me know and
I will get it to you yesterday.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, I’d love to get a
link to some of your art work so that when people come in
and listen to your interview, I’m going to break it up into
like 20 different segments and post it in all the blogs, I’d
love to drive people to your site so they can see your
artwork.
Michael Davis: Because just how I’ve
come to know you through your interview, I’m sure your art
work is even more incredible and inspiring because you do it
out of love.
Michael Davis: Well, the art work for
the Guardian Line, I don’t do any of that stuff. I just have
these great artists who work for me. But their art work is
phenomenal.
Ralph Zuranski: I just really appreciate
your time and I appreciate what you’re doing to make the
world a better place. Creating faith based comics gives
people the truth about how to successful lives by
understanding the wisdom in the Word of God.
Michael Davis: Thank you very much. I
don’t think I’ve gotten a higher compliment ever.
Ralph Zuranski: Thanks again. I
appreciate your time.
Michael Davis: Thank you, Sir, and have
a good holiday weekend!
Ralph Zuranski: You, too.
