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the word ‘N—-r’ on my chest. They beat me until I was bleeding from every part of my body. I thought my life was done — I was going to be beaten to death. Just to add some icing on the cake, Jennings ended his circus act with, ‘Now be a good little c— and give us a dance.’

“I danced for my life. After Jennings finished his finale, I wanted to crawl into the walls of the latrine and die. I thought to myself, I joined the Unites States Army to fight the enemy in whatever country at whatever time, but I never thought I would be sleeping with the enemy in my own unit, my own barracks.”

“I was able to perform to larger crowds, even got cheers from those who previously mistreated me. Prejudiced white men admired and respected my performances. I saw Jennings in the audience once. He didn’t crack a smile, but I could tell from his expression I had won the battle, maybe not the war, but that battle. The spotlight lessened the prejudice. For me, it was a revelation. My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man’s thinking. From then on, deep in my heart, soul, and spirit, I knew I had to be a star.

When Sammy got out of the Army and achieved international success, he was invited to perform at the White House. When his limo arrived, the man guarding the White House Gate was Jennings.

Sammy said, “Don’t I know you?”

Jennings replied, “no sir, Mr. Davis.”

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[Source: TogetherWeServed]

At least in the end, that ignorant dude, Jennings, had to eat his words and bow down to the legend, but I’m sure Sammy wanted to probably jab him right in the gut just for old times sake, when he saw him outside the White House that day. Sammy’s experiences in the military is probably what groomed him into being able to stand alongside the Rat Pack and go back in forth with the racial wise cracks they often threw at each other. He was accustomed to being the underdog, but he learned how to use what he referred to as his “his power” as his armor- his professional armor, his social armor, and his psychological armor. “Mr. Bojangles” went through a lot but came out in the end as the true champ. Continue to rest well Mr. Davis, we salute you.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, Old School news with a new point of view