Within the past 20 years, former Paterson Councilman Anthony Eboney Davis worked in politics, his wife divorced him, and he served time in prison for accepting bribe money. But there was a silver lining to all of this, and the ex-politician has chronicled his experiences in his new book, “There is Life after Politics, Divorce, and Prison When you follow God’s plan.”
Born and raised in Paterson, Davis represented the city’s First Ward and also served as the President of the City Council. In 2015, Davis pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from an FBI informant posing as a crooked developer from April to July 2012. He was also in the running for Paterson Mayor, something he had aspired for since he was a child.
Davis said he wanted to be the city’s first Black mayor. By the time he was on the city council, Paterson already had its second Black mayor. He lamented that he “didn’t have the right mentors to show [him] how to get there.”
“That was my end goal at a young age, not even knowing what the role of council members was at that time. As a kid, you just know who the mayor is. And that was my goal, not knowing there were steps you had to take first,” Davis told New Jersey Urban News.
The thought of chronicling his experience in prison came to him while working in the prison’s law library during his 487 day sentence, which he served in Ashland, KY.
While he was trying to come up with the title, Davis realized there was a life after politics, divorce, and prison. Davis described writing the book as therapeutic and hopes he can use his experience to prevent young men and women from going through the same thing.
“Growing up, I always tried to stay on the right track. Before going to prison, I didn’t have so much as a parking ticket to my name,” said Davis. “I was clueless to what prison life was like, other than what I knew from television and books. People don’t believe me when I say before that, I had never been arrested or handcuffed before.”
During his sentence, there were three places Davis could be found if he wasn’t sleeping: the prison church, the law library, and the dining area. It was during this time that he says his faith in God was only strengthened by spending his time in church and bible study every day, something he admits he didn’t do every day on the outside.
“My eyes and tongue were glued to the Bible,” he says. “That was a tremendous help to me and I was able to rediscover myself. You try to retrace what you’ve done and how you ended up in a place like this or what you’re going to do when you get out. I believe God has a plan for all of us. It’s just up to us to find that purpose. It’s said you’re born twice: the day you come into this world and the day you find your purpose.”
Davis noted that divorce has a double meaning. While it does imply that he and his wife divorced, he has also divorced himself from his past.
“I had people in my life that shouldn’t have been in my life. I had to relearn a lot about myself. I turned 50 inside of prison,” Davis said. “I remember that night in bible study, I was given time to share my thoughts and I talked about the people that I hurt. I cried like a baby. It was a relief for me to get through that, as hard as it was. I spent 487 days in prison, but I got to meet myself.”
Still a Paterson resident, Davis currently works for the Paterson Parking Authority during the day. He also spends time as a historian for his church, Seminary Baptist Church.
While politics aren’t a priority in Davis’ life right now, his goal is to pass on what he has learned. As someone who enjoyed speaking to the public as well as the local youth, whether it was motivational or inspirational, Davis knew he wanted to articulate his experiences for others to learn from by taking his book on tour to engage with others.
“Throughout that whole experience, I had time to reflect on who I was and who I wasn’t,” he says. “As you move forward and recover bits and pieces of yourself, it’s fuel to the fire and you keep going upward.”
While no release date has been announced, Davis is anticipating the release for “There is Life after Politics, Divorce, and Prison When you follow God’s plan,” sometime this October.