Willie Earl Vereen

Willie Earl Vereen was one of the Black students involved in the Wilmington school boycott and broader protest movement in 1971, pushing back against unequal conditions and treatment for Black students during desegregation. Vereen became part of the Wilmington Ten, a case that drew wide attention and condemnation over the fairness of the prosecution.

Vereen was charged and tried with the group for the firebombing of Mike’s Grocery and a conspiracy charge involving assaults on emergency personnel. Convicted on October 17, 1972, Vereen received a 29‑year prison sentence. The convictions were overturned in 1980 by the Fourth Circuit, and the Wilmington Ten later received pardons of innocence in 2012, formally clearing the group.