An April 5, 1979 news story in the Chronicle, headlined, "Preaching as a Prisoner on the Dream of Dr. King. The Rev. Ben Chavis is pictured, carrying books, a briefcase and a paper bag.

Reflections from the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis

Chavis will be a guest preacher at Duke Chapel Jan. 18

Reflections from the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis

Chavis will be a guest preacher at Duke Chapel Jan. 18

The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, who served a decades-long prison sentence for his role in the “Wilmington Ten,” will be a guest preacher at the Duke Chapel service at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18.

On April 4, 1979, exactly 11 years after an assassin’s bullet fatally wounded the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Chavis, who was at the time deemed by Amnesty International to be a political prisoner, preached a sermon at Duke Chapel to honor the civil rights martyr’s enduring legacy.

On January 18, one day before the MLK holiday, Chavis will preach an 11 a.m. sermon at Duke Chapel.

In a recent episode of the Chapel’s Sounds of Faith podcast, Chavis spoke about his historic sermon at Duke Chapel and the continuing struggle to realize King’s dream of a more just and equitable society.

Chavis was convicted in 1972 of burning down a grocery store in Wilmington, N.C., during a period of highly volatile racial unrest. Prior to his imprisonment, Chavis was a young minister who had worked alongside King.

In 1978, former state governor Jim Hunt, who died in December, reduced the Wilmington Ten sentences, making them eligible for parole. Chavis was released on parole in 1979.

Even while behind bars, Chavis continued his own brand of activism. He preached to his fellow inmates and in 1976 went on a hunger strike to protest the harsh prison conditions, which included the deaths of two prisoners who were burned to death in their prison cells.

Each weekday, prison officials dropped Chavis off at Duke for his classes at the Divinity School. When he was invited to speak at Duke Chapel for the university’s MLK memorial service, he was granted extended permission by the prison authorities.

“The prison officials were very nervous about allowing me to give a public sermon at an auspicious setting like Duke University,” Chavis said. “As soon as the service was over, they whisked me back to the prison.”

Listen to more of Chavis’ reflections on the Sounds of Faith podcast; see the full list of guest preachers on Duke Chapel’s website.