Dunn, NC – In a room where history and hope sat side-by-side, Dr. Benjamin Chavis didn’t just give a speech; he delivered a roadmap for the modern movement. Standing before a crowd in Dunn, NC the man who once wore the “black on black” uniform of 1960s militancy spoke with the seasoned grace of a minister, a scientist, and a survivor of one of North Carolina’s most infamous injustices. His impactful words came from his lifetime of experience organizing across North Carolina’s 100 counties beginning with the NAACP at the age of 12 in Granville County. At 14, Dr. Chavis became the statewide coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Dr. Chavis shared a deeply personal turning point that many in the audience had never heard. In 1968, he was a chemistry major at UNC, focused on a future in medicine alongside his sister. Everything changed on April 4th. “On the day Dr. King was killed… I accepted my calling to the Lord,” Chavis reflected. He traded the laboratory for the pulpit and the front lines, eventually being sent by the United Church of Christ to Wilmington in 1971 to help students protesting the slow pace of school integration.
The Wilmington Ten left a legacy of resilience. Dr. Chavis spoke somberly about the “Wilmington Ten”—the group of nine young men and one woman falsely accused and sentenced to a combined 282 years in prison. Chavis himself was just 23 at the time. He described the intimidation tactics used by the state, including being marched out in waist chains and ankle irons to instill fear in the community. However, the plan backfired. “When they chained us up that way, the movement became known all over the world,” he said. It took 40 years for the state to officially grant a “Pardon of Innocence,” a moment Chavis views not with bitterness, but as a lesson in steadfastness…