Rennard Cordon Davis (May 23, 1940 – February 2, 2021) was an American anti-war activist who gained prominence in the 1960s. He was one of the

Chicago Seven The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged by ...

defendants charged for anti-war demonstrations and large-scale protests at the

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...

in Chicago. He had a prominent organizational role in the American anti–Vietnam War protest movement of the 1960s. In the early 1970s, Davis became a follower of Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) and his

Divine Light Mission The Divine Light Mission (''Divya Sandesh Parishad''; DLM) was an organization founded in 1960 by guru Hans Ji Maharaj for his following in northern India. During the 1970s, the DLM gained prominence in the West under the leadership of his fourth a ...

. He began to travel as a spiritual lecturer. He also became a venture capitalist, and founded the Foundation for a New Humanity to combine these goals.

Early life

Davis was born in Lansing, Michigan, on May 23, 1940. His family moved to

Berryville, Virginia Berryville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Clarke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,185 at the 2010 census, up from 2,963 at the 2000 census. History Berryville was founded at the intersection of the Winch ...

, when he was in grade seven. His father, John, worked in nearby Washington, DC, including serving as chief of staff to the Council of Economic Advisers under President Harry S. Truman. His mother, Dorothy, was employed as a schoolteacher. Davis studied at Oberlin College starting in 1958. After graduating, he went on to obtain a master's degree from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. In the 1960s, Davis became active in the

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

. He was the National Director of their project of community organizing programs (the Economic Research and Action Project, or ERAP) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He became increasingly allied with anti-war groups, and helped organize protests and related events before and during the

in Chicago for the

National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which became the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, was a coalition of American antiwar activists formed in November 1966 to organize large demonstrations in o ...

("the Mobe").

Democratic Convention protests and subsequent trial

Davis was one of the principal organizers of the

to plan

anti-war protests An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

at the

. He negotiated unsuccessfully to gain a permit with Chicago city counsel David Stahl. At a

police riot A police riot is a riot carried out by the police; more specifically, it is a riot that police are responsible for instigating, escalating or sustaining as a violent confrontation. Police riots are often characterized by widespread police bruta ...

in Grant Park on August 27, 1968, Davis was among protesters beaten by Chicago police officers, and he suffered a concussion. The Chicago Eight (later known as the Chicago Seven) were eight men charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to the nonviolent and violent protests that took place in Chicago. The original eight protester/defendants, indicted by the grand jury on March 20, 1969, included Davis, Abbie Hoffman,

Jerry Rubin Jerry Clyde Rubin (July 14, 1938 – November 28, 1994) was an American social activist, anti-war leader, and counterculture icon during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman. He is known for being one of the ...

, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...

, a Black Panther leader. During the early part of the trial, Seale's case was separated from the others. The Chicago Seven defense attorneys were

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...

and Leonard Weinglass of the

Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional RightsThe Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR) is a Julius Hoffman. The prosecutors were Richard Schultz and Tom Foran. The trial began on September 24, 1969. On October 9, the Illinois National Guard was called in to join the

Chicago police The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...

for crowd control, as demonstrations grew outside the courtroom. Davis was found guilty of inciting to riot and sentenced to five years imprisonment. His conviction was overturned on appeal. At his testimony, given January 23, 1970, Davis related, for the Court, a speech he gave at the University of Chicago on November 20, 1967, and, by extension, his reasons for demonstrating at the Democratic National Convention. The suppression of his testimony led the defense to motion for a mistrial. During his speech, Davis held up a small green steel ball, about the size of a tennis ball, and described how 640 of them were dropped by an American F-105 fighter jet over Nam Ding, Vietnam. Foran objected that the methods and techniques used during the Vietnam war had nothing to do with whether or not people in the United States had a right to travel in interstate commerce to incite a riot. The Court sustained the objection and Kunstler motioned for a mistrial.

Divine Light Mission

In the early 1970s, Davis became a follower of Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat). He was a spokesperson and speaker at the widely publicized Millennium '73 event organized by

in the

Houston Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

. He described the arrival of Guru Maharaj Ji as, ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

'' quoted Davis as stating: "This city is going to be remembered through all the ages of human civilization." An op-ed in the '' San Francisco Sunday Examiner'' speculated at the time as to whether Davis had undergone a

lobotomy A lobotomy, or leucotomy, is a form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy) that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. The surgery causes most of the connections t ...

, and suggested, "If not, maybe he should try one."

Foundation for a New Humanity

Davis later became a

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

and lecturer on

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

and self-awareness. He created the Foundation for a New Humanity, a technology development and venture capital company commercializing breakthrough technologies. He appeared on ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

'', Barbara Walters,

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, Phil Donahue, VH1, and other network television programs. He consulted and provided advice in business strategies for Fortune 500 companies. Davis returned to Chicago for the 1996 Democratic National Convention to speak at the "Festival of Life" in Grant Park. He also appeared on a panel with activist Tom Hayden discussing "a progressive counterbalance to the religious right". In an article published in the ''Iowa Source'' in 2005, Davis said:

Death

Davis died on February 2, 2021, at his home in Berthoud, Colorado. He was 80 and suffered from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

, which was discovered only two weeks prior to his death.

Popular culture

Robert Carradine Robert Reed Carradine ( ; born March 24, 1954) is an American actor. A member of the Carradine family, he made his first appearances on television Western series such as ''Bonanza'' and his brother David's TV series, '' Kung Fu''. Carradine's fi ...

played Rennie Davis in the 1987 film '' Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8''. * Davis voices himself in the 2007 animated documentary '' Chicago 10''. * In the 2010 film '' The Chicago 8'' Davis was played by

Bret Harrison Bret Michael Harrison (born April 6, 1982) is an American actor and musician known predominantly for his work on comedy television series such as ''Grounded for Life'', '' The Loop'', ''Reaper'', and '' Breaking In''. Early life Harrison was bo ...

. *

Alex Sharp Alexander Ian Sharp (born 2 February 1989) is an English actor. He is known for originating the role of Christopher Boone in the Broadway production of ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time''. After graduating from the Juilliard ...

portrayed Davis in the 2020 drama film ''

The Trial of the Chicago 7 ''The Trial of the Chicago 7'' is a 2020 American historical legal drama film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. The film follows the Chicago Seven, a group of anti–Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines ...

''.

Notes and references

External links

Video preview
1974, Independent Video Archive (mediaburn.org), ''Lord of the Universe'' (documentary), Rennie Davis featured in clips
3-minute excerpt
Creative Commons License,

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

The Chicago Seven

with Rennie Davis
by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, October 10, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Rennie 1940 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American anti–Vietnam War activists Businesspeople from Lansing, Michigan Chicago Seven Deaths from cancer in Colorado Deaths from lymphoma Oberlin College alumni People from Berryville, Virginia Prem Rawat People from Berthoud, Colorado