Benjamin Chavis Muhammad was born Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Jr. on January 22, 1948 in Oxford, North Carolina. Chavis served as a youth coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on the advance team for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He worked to desegregate the public school system in Wilmington, North Carolina where he was arrested on conspiracy and arson charges. Chavis spent nearly a decade in prison, receiving international attention, until the charges were overturned in 1980. January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC, first known as Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration) is a civil rights organization founded in January 1957. ... Martin Luther King Jr. ... For other places called Wilmington, see Wilmington Wilmington is a city located in New Hanover County, North Carolina. ... State nickname: Tar Heel State; Old North State Official languages English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Governor Michael Easley (D) Senators Elizabeth Dole (R) Richard Burr (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 28th 139,509 km² 9. ...

Chavis became a leader in the civil rights community, rising to become Executive Director and CEO of the NAACP. He was an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and in that capacity he was head of the UCC's Commission on Racial Justice. Chavis was also one of the organizers of the Million Man March in 1995. Later, he was forced out of his position at the NAACP due to allegedly paying off a former mistress to keep quiet about their affair. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ... Emblem of the UCC The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States, generally considered within the Reformed tradition, and formed in 1957 by the merger of two denominations, the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches. ... The Million Man March was an African American march of protest and unity convened by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in Washington, DC on October 16, 1995. ...

In 1997, Chavis joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Benjamin Chavis Muhammad. He tried to keep his UCC credentials but was defrocked for converting to another religion. Chavis Muhammad is currently the CEO of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, which he cofounded with rap mogul Russell Simmons. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Entrepreneur Russell Simmons aka Rush born (October 4, 1957) in Queens, NY, is the co-founder, with Rick Rubin, of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam, and is also founder of another label, Russell Simmons Music Group. ...

External links

• Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
• UCC Article on Chavis Muhammad