On October 18, 1972, Benjamin Chavis and nine others (the famous Wilmington Ten) were wrongly convicted of having incited race riots. Chavis spent four years in jail-and it was in the flames of that injustice that these psalms were forged.
The deep and abiding faith that sustains Chavis today can be found in these brilliant and powerful prayers. They spoke then to the issues of the African American struggle ... they speak to those same issues today ... and they speak to all of us. "The context is particular," says Chavis, "but the message is universal."
Originally published in 1983 after the convictions of the Wilmington Ten were overturned (1980 by a federal appeals court), Psalms from Prison was updated and re-released in 1994.
