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No Turning Back - Artur Davis, the former congressman from Alabama, will complete his conversion to the GOP on Aug. 28 when he takes the stage at the Republican National Convention. His speech will likely target voters who, like him, were once avid supporters of President Obama and seek to make them feel that, in 2012, it's OK to support Mitt Romney. (Photo: Facebook)

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In the Beginning - Davis was born and raised on the west side of Montgomery, Alabama, in a household headed by his single mother and grandmother. Their low-income neighborhood was near the site where Rosa Parks took a bold stand by refusing to go to the back of a bus, a major benchmark in the nation's civil rights history. (Photo: officialarturdavis.com)

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Crimson All the Way - The former lawmaker was a nerdy kid. But it paid off, landing him scholarships to Harvard University from which he graduated magna cum laude. He also earned a degree (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, where he befriended fellow student Barack Obama. Davis is currently a fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics. (Photo: Wikicommons)

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Paying His Dues - Davis served as an intern in the office of Alabama U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin and at the Southern Poverty Law Center. He also clerked for a judge and, in 1994, he became an assistant U.S. attorney and had a near 100 percent trial-conviction record. In 1998, he opened his own practice, which specialized in civil rights law. (Photo: harvard.edu)

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Changing of the Guard - In 2000, Davis unsuccessfully challenged longtime lawmaker Rep. Earl Hilliard. But two years later, he prevailed by convincing constituents in what was the nation's third-poorest district that the ethically challenged Hilliard had little to show for himself or his constituents in his 10 years in Congress. (Photo: CSPAN)

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Yes, We Can! - In 2008, Davis delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver seconding the nomination of Barack Obama for president of the United States. "I am honored to second the nomination of the man whose victory tonight takes us closer to becoming what we know America can be," he said. (Photo: ABC News)

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Nickname - He’s been called the Obama of Alabama. (Photo: Linda Stelter/Birmingham News /Landov)

Photo By Photo: Linda Stelter/Birmingham News /Landov

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I Do - On Jan. 1, 2009, Davis married Tara Johnson, a state employee. (Photo: Tamika Moore/Birmingham News /Landov)

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Legislative Record - Davis helped draft sections of the 2008 Farm Bill that led to the settlement in 2010 between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Black farmers against whom the agency had discriminated. He also was the only African-American member of Congress to vote against the Affordable Care Act. (Photo: officialarturdavis.com)

Photo By Photo: officialarturdavis.com

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A Higher Calling - In 2010, Davis made an unsuccessful bid to become the first African-American governor of Alabama. The famously independent lawmaker may have helped seal his own fate after failing to seek the blessing of the state's Black political establishment. Local leaders of the Alabama Democratic Conference, the Alabama New South Coalition and two other civil rights groups endorsed his opponent who had a 24 percent edge. (Photo: Michelle Williams/Birmingham News /Landov)

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Life After Congress - Davis upped stakes after leaving Congress, moved to Northern Virginia and joined the law firm SNR Denton in 2011 as a partner in the crime and government investigations section. (Photo: Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

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Blue to Red - In May, Davis announced that he was switching his allegiance to the Republican Party. There has been wide speculation that he is creating a foundation from which to relaunch his political career. (Photo: CSPAN)