Born in Washington, D.C., the son of John P. Davis and Marguerite DeMond Davis, Mike D. Davis grew up in the bosom of the dignified black middle class of Washington D.C. and New York City. His father, John P. Davis was a graduate of Harvard Law School and his mother was a graduate of Syracuse University. John P. Davis became prominent for his work with the Joint Committee on National Recovery and the founding of the National Negro Congress in 1935. He went on to found "Our World" magazine in 1946, a full-size, nationally-distributed magazine edited for African-American readers. He also published the "American Negro Reference book", covering virtually every aspect of African-American life, present and past. Mike Davis was the grandson of Dr. William Henry Davis and the Reverend Abraham Lincoln DeMond