{"value"=>"<p>The Alliance dedicated a significant number of resources to the cause of the Wilmington Ten. The Ten were nine Black men and one white woman who were wrongfully convicted of arson and conspiracy in 1971. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Wilmington had suffered incredible tension due to resistance to school integration. In February of 1971 the United Church of Christ sent Reverend Ben Chavis to Wilmington to work with students and calm the situation. That month there was an arson fire at a white-owned grocery store, for which Chavis was arrested, along with eight high school students – Connie Tindall, Marvin \"Chilly\" Patrick, Wayne Moore, Reginald Epps, Jerry Jacobs, James \"Bun\" McKoy, Willie Earl Vereen, William \"Joe\" Wright, Jr. – and one white woman, Ann Shepard, an anti-poverty worker in the community. Their convictions were backed by little evidence and were protested throughout the country and internationally.</p> <p>In 1976 and 1977, three witnesses recanted their testimony. In 1978 all the sentences were commuted and in 1980 the convictions were overturned. A new trial was ordered then but the state did not proceed with it, and in 2012 all members of the Ten were fully pardoned.</p>"}