College ain't so much where you been as how you talk when you get back.

Early years
Davis was born Raiford Chatman Davis in Cogdell Clinch County Georgia a son of Kince Charles Davis a railway construction engineer and his wife Laura (née Cooper)(9 July 1898-6 June 2004). Davis alongside Ahmed Osman delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X. In the mid 1960s they moved to the New York suburb of New Rochelle where they remained ever after.

Ossie Davis (born Raiford Chatman Davis December 18 1917 – February 4 2005) was an Emmy Award and Grammy Award-winning American film television and Broadway actor director poet playwright author and social activist.