David Earl Williams III was born on January 8th, 1984, in Evanston, Illinois. However, he grew up on Chicago’s North Side neighborhood of Rogers Park and later Uptown, where he resided with his mother and two sisters. Additionally, he has an older brother. Notably, he is related to former Democratic Oklahoma State Senator Eugene E. “Gene” Stipe. David is of mixed ancestry, including Black, Irish, Native American, French, German, British, Ashkenazi Jewish, and Southeast Asian heritage.
He was educated at Joseph Brennemann Elementary (1990-1995), Louis B. Nettlehorst Elementary (1996-1998), and Nicholas Senn High School (1999-2002). From 2000 to 2001, David was a member of Senn High School’s Academic Decathlon team, contributing to their advancement to the regional competition, a first in the school’s history. David graduated from Senn High School in 2002 while on the Honor Roll.
Immediately after graduating, David joined the U.S. Navy. He served as a Deck Seaman for the first two years during Operation Iraqi Freedom, then as a Logistics Specialist, managing over $2 billion worth of aviation equipment and supervising over 25 personnel for the remainder of his service. He was stationed onboard the U.S.S. Cowpens (CG-63) in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan, from 2002 to 2006. During his time in the U.S. Armed Forces, he traveled extensively throughout Asia and the Australian continent, as well as the Middle East. David was decorated eight times for his service before receiving an Honorable Discharge in mid-2006.
Later in 2006, he began his studies abroad, eventually graduating from Lethbridge College, located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, after completing courses in General Studies and Criminal Justice. During the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, he supported and voted for Barack Obama via absentee ballot.
In 2010, David returned to the United States, taking up residence in his birthplace of Evanston, Illinois. Shortly thereafter, he began participating in the Chicago chapter of WeAreChange (2011-2014), a nationwide political activism group. During his time with WeAreChange, he protested against corporatism and took part in several anti-war demonstrations opposing U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2014, David ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 9th District as a Republican. He lost the primary by 1,427 votes on March 18, 2014. In the summer of 2018, he announced his candidacy for Alderman in Chicago’s 48th Ward as an Independent. He received 16.25% of the vote (2,415 votes) during the 2019 Chicago Municipal election. In late summer of 2022, he announced his candidacy for Chicago’s 24th police district council as a Democrat, placing 5th out of 7 with 13% of the vote (7,074 votes).
Many who are close to David see him as a “Renaissance man”. In the past, David worked as a male model and promoter for Urban Offering clothing and Pink Avenue Models. He also appeared as an extra in the music video “Desert Spring Rose: Film Noir Vignette,” directed by Scott Feigen.
Besides his “day job” as a medical logistics specialist, David has volunteered in disaster relief efforts with Convoy of Hope, assisted in crisis intervention initiatives with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and worked with the pro-privacy activist organization known as Restore the Fourth. He is also an animal rights activist with the Chicago Alliance for Animals, advocating to ban horse carriages and replace them with pedicabs. Through his group, the Chicago Missing Persons Guild, he has closely worked with the CPD Youth Investigation Division to implement new methods for locating missing loved ones quickly and efficiently.
Outside of his political endeavors, he has volunteered (house-to-house canvassing and phone banking) for the following campaigns: Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s 2015 Chicago Mayoral campaign, Lori Lightfoot’s 2019 Chicago Mayoral campaign, Andre Vasquez’s Aldermanic campaign for the 40th ward, the Illinois for Bernie 2020 Presidential campaign (Independent Vermont, Senator Bernie Sanders), the Biden/Harris 2020 campaign, Hoan Huynh’s 2022 State Rep campaign in Illinois’ 13th district, and Joe Dunne’s 2023 Aldermanic campaign for the 48th ward.
He is a Prince Hall Freemason, formerly affiliated with Evans Lodge 524 (2013-2016), and currently with St. James Alpha 1 Lodge. He formerly provided veteran service outreach with the American Legion of Morton Grove Post 134 (2014-2017) and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge 1526 (2016-2018). Additionally, he served as Co-Chairman for Unite America Chicago’s Chapter from 2019 to 2022.
He is a nondenominational Christian, an author of the LitRPG book series titled VALOR TALE, and his hobbies/interests include amateur voice-overs (particularly for YouTube user Yeti112’s Resident Evil & Metal Gear Solid parody series), working out, long-distance walking (his longest walk being 24.3 miles within 7 1/2 hours, as of 7/26/2023), swing dancing, video game music, Cats & Dogs, red wine, Vodka, and M.U.G.E.N.
