Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) is an entrepreneur, educator, and civil rights leader. A native of Oxford, North Carolina, Chavis began his career in 1963, as a statewide youth coordinator in N.C. for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In 1972, Chavis and the now famed Wilmington Ten, were arrested and falsely convicted of conspiracy and arson. After serving nearly a decade in prison and receiving international attention the charges were eventually overturned in 1980. While in prison, Chavis wrote two books: “An American Political Prisoner” and “Psalms from Prison.”