Coffy Davis
Author / Writer / Film Director / Poet
LATEST PROJECTS
Project |01
Shoo-Fly |and other African Myths, Southern Folklore & Urban Legends
Shoo-Fly is a collection of short-stories composed of many different elements. It weaves together African folklore, mythology to Christianity, but the common thread that runs thru these tales is that they are all aspects of Coffy's experiences as an African-American woman. Her writing has been influenced by the harsh realities of the inner city in Oakland, California and the deep-rooted history as a descendant of Arkansas share-croppers. This work traces her roots from West Africa, to kneeling on a mat in a Muslim Mosque in Turkey, to the halls of an old Southern Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. It also merges her fascination with psychological thrillers with a love for the African Griot and story-telling. This work is a journey that winds, and spins and zigzags its way along identity, love, and spirituality. Still, it is the bluesy narrative that gives her stories their texture.
Project |02
Ghetto Politics | Book and CD
Ghetto Politics is a book that captures some of Davis' most profound work. It deals with the struggle of a young African-American woman amid the chaos and disorder around her. It is a personal account of events and people she has encountered in a lifetime. It deals with emotional bonds and relationships between mother and daughter, father and daughter, boyfriends and lady friends. Ghetto Politics addresses the necessity of building strong relationships through disclosure. In order to build strong relationships one has to disclose and take the risk that other people may reject you. One poem in the volume titled, Colors illustrates her connection with students that she worked with in a Juvenile detention center. She uses colors to represent the students in an attempt at concealing identities as well as a contrast between what we see and what is real. Colors, much like her students, do not exist in outer reality, they exist in our minds. It is how we look at reality that creates these remarkable images. The poem, 4 U addresses the complex relationship between a Black woman and the Country in which she loves. It is a letter for love unreciprocated. Ghetto Politics is not as much a detailed record as it is a process. It is a progression of thought through growth and change. It is a story of Coffy as a girl struggling to build an empire brick by broken brick. Like any great builder, she is an architect that builds something to endure. This is a legacy inherited from an ancestry of griots, story tellers and toasters. It is a book our children will pick up where she left off and once again, “Prove nature’s laws wrong, that one can walk without having feet.” - Tupac Shakur.
Project |03
Loyalty |Film
Loyalty is a story of love, brotherhood and sacrifices. The setting is the childhood home of four African-American males who return to Little Rock from various stages of success. The brothers reminisce on life, love and their pursuit of happiness while awaiting Ray's wedding. It is a time of joyful reunions, emotional memories and family secrets. It is a thought-provoking glimpse into the lives of everyday Black men and their struggle to balance careers, relationships and love while struggling to capture the American Dream.
Project |04
FREEDOM |Stage play & Book
Poignant and powerful FREEDOM, invites the audience into the world of Pam, Maya, Angela, Xavier, Jimmy, Richard, D.D. and Lena, Eight passengers in the waiting area of the St. Louis airport waiting impatiently on a delayed flight. In a brilliantly written composition of rhythmic quickwitted dialogue, the eight characters engage in a very revealing conversation where they each find themselves divulging their own harrowing stories. The play then unfolds via vivid flashes of the past and telling glimpses of the future as it chronicles each character. Whether drawn together by coincidence or providence, before the day is done, everyone will take a trip through the eyes of these familiar strangers. Through the course of this encounter they will face invaluable lessons of personal evaluation and self-acceptance.
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 Freedom Nov 14 FlyerBlues Artist Gwen White was apart of the Jackson, Mississippi show. |  Alamo MarqueeWe loved to see our names outside a venue. This was a historical theater in Jackson, MS called the Alamo Theater. |  Xavier and DonaldA dynamic performance by Poetree (Xavier) and Mikail (Donald Hammond) |
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 Warren Booker and Crystal GWarren L. Booker, Jr. and Crystal G Portraying the characters Xavier and Debra Hammond. Crystal is singing the original song, "End of the world" written by KTL Robinson |  Encore at the Malco Theaterin 2009 I became the first African American to ever have a performance at the Malco, Theater in Hot Springs, AR. After the first show sold out, we returned the following day for an encore! |  The Cabaret SceneThe cabaret scene was one of our most anticipated scenes with it's breath-taking choreography (Crystal G) ,beautiful melody 'Mister" (Coffy and Goldie) and the Amazing wardrobe. |
 The Airport sceneMaya, D.D. and Richard await their flight. |  Malco MarqueeOur name in Lights! |  Free songWritten by Coffy Davis performed by Dinard Stewart and Ashley |
 movie (2)Action! |  chuck DIt's all love for Freedom on the Hip Hop scene! |  freeLOGO (3)Freedom Logo created by local artist Ariston Jacks |
 directing (2)Coffy directing at UCA | Freedom songOriginal song Free written by Coffy Davis |  Jackson StatePreparing to speak at HBCU Jackson State before a performance |
 resting after practiveThe Alamo Theater in Jackson, MS |  D on micDaniel at Moonrize Studio in little rock doing vocal work. |
Project |05
Coffy's third poetry CD titled "Hip Hop Revolution" is a brutal honest look at Urban America throught the lens of an African-American female. It's a battle of knowledge and wisdom, a voice from the front lines and a beautiful redemption song for veterans of the crack era. It is rich with the nostalgic hip hop and beautiful imagery that made generation X the vanguards of their culture and it gives power back to the people!
MEdusa | Reflections of An Angry Black Girl
Medusa is a powerful memoir of tumultuous, bold teenage girlhood, a honey-baby-child who speaks upon the ashes; the ruins of black life circa 1990. It’s a story of a young girl raised by a single-mom; an ex- military vet suffering from Post- Traumatic Stress and depression. She finds herself closing inside those same walls of low self-worth and promiscuity but challenges the reflection she sees in the mirror. This coming-of-age story blossoms with the immediacy of a first-person narrative from a young girl bursting into this inner-city ballet of heartache and dysfunction and ultimately finds self-love with the energy of a hip-hop lyric. And in the beginning, life is, by just about any measure, a mess. Her strength is pulling poetry out of the wreckage and finding beauty in the most simplistic and basic aspects of urban life; the rhythm of the Double Dutch ropes slapping against asphalt; the dozens; Nike Cortez on cracked side-walks, hide-n-seek in abandoned houses, and first kisses in the back of old school cars is what keeps the beat flowing. She inhales heartaches, violence and trauma and exhales a piece of art that captures a young girl blooming into womanhood in the midst of urban chaos, and fractured family structures. This book is a celebration of flowers; women, those broken, damaged bushels pushing through the cracks in the concrete
Just a sample of my work. To see more or discuss possible work >>
 ::Hip Hop Revolution::Coffy's third Poetry CD titled "Hip Hop Revolution" is a war of words. In the spirit of the hip-hop generation, it is a brutal and honest look at the unrest that lies in the heart of Urban America. As always, it is told from a female perspective. |  There is a war inside all of usCivil Right's is not a dream that lived and died with martin. It is a revolution of though that lives in the minds of our great leaders. |  The Art of WarTracks: Suicided, Black Out, We got History, Emmett sTill, Raw |
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