Rev. L. Venchael Booth's long time Pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Avondale, founded the national Progressive Baptist Convention, started the first church-run home for elderly people in Cincinnati.

Rev. Dr. William D. Booth, Jr. was born September 16, 1944, in Gary, Indiana. William authored The Progressive Story in 1980 published by Baum Press, and A Call to Greatness: The Story of the Founding of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, 2001

Rev. Dr. Gardner C. Taylor a prominent leader in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other African American clergy to Co-founder the Progressive National Baptist Convention.

Rev. Dr. Larry N. Jones the first African American to serve as Dean of the Faculty and Acting President of the Union Theological Seminary, devoted leader in intellectual and church communities, and a "minister’s minister". 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized Walker’s abilities and organizing skills.  Walker eventually was selected as Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) based in Atlanta, King’s Chief of Staff and a Key Strategist for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. 

(1926-1990)

Rev. Abernathy was involved in every civil rights campaign launched by Dr. King.  After the assassination of Dr. King in 1968, Rev. Abernathy immediately became President of SCLC and continued to lead the protests in that city in support of striking sanitation workers.

(1746-1818)

Alexander Crummell helped found the American Negro Academy and became its first president, with W.E.B. DuBois and William Saunders Scarborough as vice-presidents.  Alexander Crummell, who would become a major influence on myriad black leaders. 

(1933-2012)

Activist, existential philosopher, professor, and Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Dr. William “Bill” Ronald Jones dedicated his career to the analysis and methods of oppression, religious humanism, and liberation theology. 

 (1891-1946)

Ida Bell Robinson established a charter for a new denomination, The Mount Sinai Holy Church of America. At its founding, women comprised six of nine members of the Board of Elders as well as the top four officers. She was consecrated as bishop in 1925.

 (1856-1927)

George Prioleau was chaplain of the 9th Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers in the late 19th century. After witnessing inequality and mistreatment of his men, he publicly challenged the hypocrisy and racial line being drawn against black soldiers. He helped found the Bethel A. M. E. Church in Los Angeles.

(1807-1886)

Charles Ray joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and was a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. He dedicated most of his life to the abolitionist movement. hen in 1843 he joined the New York Vigilance Committee, which involved thirteen black and white men who assisted runaway slaves. 

Morris Brown collaborate with the Rev. Richard Allen in the founding of the country’s first African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in 1816.  Brown worked tirelessly to forge an independent African Methodist Church in Charleston. 

Daniel Coker (born Isaac Wright) was a writer, activist, and a founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church who eventually emigrated from the United States to Sierra Leone as a missionary and colonist.

Daniel Alexander Payne would become a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, President of Wilberforce University, abolitionist, educator, and historian. 

Henry Beard Delany is known for his contributions in architecture and for being the first African American bishop elected in North Carolina and the second in the United States.

(1938-2018)

Author and theologian James Hal Cone witnessed the hypocrisy of white Christian racism along with the power and community of black churches.  His writings advocate Black Liberation Theology.

Martin Luther King, Jr, was elected president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association. King gained national prominence for his role in the campaign. King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Atlanta in 1957.