John is proud of his accomplishments in the years since he served time
John Davis was born in San Bernadino, between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. He is turning 40 this year.
John loves stand-up comedy and chess. Both pursuits make perfect sense as he peppers the intricate, complex story of his life with hilarious jokes and stories. He is from an interesting, well-educated family, part Irish, Chinese, French, Native and African American.
“Everyone in my family has master’s degrees. My momma has two,” he said.
His mother spent 27 years with the California Highway Patrol.
“She got as high as she could get without being a sworn officer. My pops was 32 years with Riverside County, running the landfills; he was a heavy-equipment operator.”
John has two sisters.
“One sister is in Japan. She has a master’s in biology and teaches American culture. My other sister, Eva, lives out here. She got her master’s last summer in analytical data, mathematics. She can write algorithms,” he said. “She’s really sharp.”
John’s mother got a master’s degree in communication and, just recently, another in theology from Portland State University.
When I asked John what it’s like to be around all those master’s degrees, he said, “They tell me I’m smarter than them, but I don’t believe it.”
John spent nine long years in prison during his 20s, but he’s proud of the fact that he was paroled on EPRD – earliest possible release date.
“That’s really unheard of,” he said.
While in prison, he took junior college classes and studied business and accounting, but he learned that because of the felony, many opportunities would not be available to him.
“They said you can’t do this, you can’t do that,” he said. So instead, he studied philosophy, psychology and horticulture.
Following his release, he continued to defy the odds.
“I did my parole, 37 months, and had no violations and no dirty UAs (urine analysis),” he said.
John is proud of the fact that with recidivism rates so high, he is the exception to the rule. He’s been out of prison for almost 10 years and maintains a clean record.
“I paroled with $200 and a sweatsuit,” he said. “I’m still pretty much in the same place.”
But he agreed he’s a lot wiser now than he was in his 20s.
“I understand the world a little different now,” he said.
John used to be “heavy into basketball,” but now he plays chess every day.
“There’s no fights in chess. People don’t get clotheslined,” he said.
He plays games on his phone at chess.com, as many as 50 a day, and he plays live games up at Pioneer Square.
“There’s a barbecue shop where we play on Sandy,” he said. “If I stay focused, I can do pretty good. I have the first 20 moves or so in my head. I already know how it’s going to go, if you move that pawn, I know I will move this one. I like a forced checkmate in three or four moves; that’s the best part of chess.”
John is looking for a steady job. He likes the discipline of doing the same thing at the same time of day. He has two daughters, and one of his cherished goals is to find a way to be more a part of their lives.
John’s been selling Street Roots for two years.
“I like selling the paper,” he said. “I say hi and bye to everybody. I like to be around people, but I get nervous. I’m still a black man in America, so I get nervous. I try to treat everybody with respect. That’s it. I never try to be rude or malicious to somebody. I only help people.”
John currently sells in front of Whole Foods at Northeast Fremont Street and 15th Avenue. Stop by with a chessboard and challenge him to a game. If you’re lucky, he’ll break into a comedy routine and have you laughing in no time.
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