Dr. Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Jr. (born January 22, 1948) is an African American civil rights leader, born in Oxford, North Carolina. In his youth, Chavis was an assistant to Martin Luther King, Jr., who inspired him to work in the civil rights movement.At the age of 24, Chavis rose to international prominence as the leader of the Wilmington Ten, civil rights activists who were charged with committing arson.