(RNS) — The Progressive National Baptist Convention, a historically Black denomination, affirmed boycotts countering corporate stances against diversity, equity, and inclusion, supported alternative shopping campaigns, and pledged to advocate for communities affected by Trump administration policies during its annual meeting.
About 2,000 delegates attended the annual session, which concluded in Chicago on Wednesday (July 23).
People attend the 64th annual session of the Progressive National Baptist Convention in Chicago. (Video screen grab)
Speakers during the four-day meeting opposed President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” budget bill, signed into law on July 4, condemning how it is expected to hurt poor people and benefit the wealthy.
“Budgets are theological documents that are testaments of a nation’s value,” said the Rev. Willie D. Francois III, co-chair of the PNBC’s Social Justice Commission. “What we see in that big ugly bill is racism and capitalism entering into an orgy with oligarchy and authoritarianism.”
The Rev. David Peoples, PNBC president, said his denomination supports the boycott of Target promoted since Ash Wednesday by the Rev. Jamal Bryant, an Atlanta-area megachurch pastor. Bryant said at the meeting the retailer had not met campaign demands, which include restoring the company’s commitment to DEI principles and pledging money to Black-owned banks and businesses.
“We will also launch a ‘buycott’ campaign to direct our dollars toward businesses that uplift, not undermine, Black lives,” Peoples said at a Tuesday news conference.
The Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III addresses the annual session of the Progressive National Baptist Convention in Chicago. (Photo by Gandhi Pinder)
He joined other speakers at the news conference in critiquing the Christian right, particularly Christian nationalism.
“White Christian nationalism may be loud, but the Black church is louder,” Peoples said. “We’re louder when we are united. We’re not afraid, we are not ashamed, we’re not going back. We choose community over chaos, justice over apathy, freedom over fear.”
The Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III, a Dallas pastor and co-chair of the PNBC’s Social Justice Commission, said at the news conference: “America has hell to pay if the Christian right does not get it right and repent, and we call upon the Christian right to repent and reunite in holy wedlock Jesus and justice. Make the needs of the people holy.”
At sessions focused on social justice, PNBC leaders and guest speakers urged greater response and a unified front with religious and civic organizations to address expected federal budget implications.
“They passed the big, bad billionaire bill, and we named that thousands of people would die every year, and we still didn’t see the mass outcry from the church,” said the Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of Live Free Illinois, which works with Black churches to help communities improve safety and economic viability. “So my question is, how many panels, how many sermons, how many Bible studies? What does it take for us to actually get out into the streets and do what we need to do to make sure that our children and our grandchildren have an opportunity to survive?”
The Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain participates in a panel during the Progressive National Baptist Convention annual session in Chicago. (Video screen grab)
PNBC officials pledged to organize to help members of their communities, as they expect budget cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will harm people living in poverty.
They also spoke against deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying its actions are not solely an issue for Latinos but also for other people of color, including African and Caribbean immigrants, some of whom recently lost temporary protected status that permitted them to work and stay in the U.S., when their homelands were determined to be unsafe.
“We are here and we are listening and we promise that this marriage between ICE deportation and mass incarceration for the purpose of profiting will not stand on our watch,” said the Rev. Jacqueline Thompson, second vice president of PNBC.
Social justice commission team members discussed ways preachers could address the needs of their congregations, whether helping people losing federal jobs or community members in need of food or mental health services, or those needing to meet legal voting requirements. They encouraged delegates to complete a survey to learn if they were currently boycotting certain businesses, such as Target or Amazon, or shopping at DEI-supporting or Black-owned businesses. They also asked via the survey if churches have locations in their buildings where Black history could be taught.
The PNBC meeting also featured leaders of civil rights organizations, including Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, co-founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who called the PNBC his denominational home.
The Rev. David Peoples, PNBC president, center left, presents the Rev. Jesse Jackson with the President’s Award during the Progressive National Baptist Convention annual session, July 23, 2025, in Chicago. (Photo © Landon Brooks, courtesy of PNBC)
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist who founded Rainbow PUSH, received the President’s Award during a Wednesday ceremony. In presenting the award, Peoples called Jackson “a living legend.”
“Many of us hear your words echo in our ear, ‘I am somebody,’” Peoples said to Jackson, 83, while placing his hand on Jackson’s shoulder as the elder man sat in a wheelchair on stage and did not speak to the gathered delegates.
Jackson has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“You are one that is to be admired and respected for your contribution to your people,” Peoples continued, “a pillar of strength for the Black community and the Civil Rights Movement for over seven decades, and a voice in the wilderness with an established legacy that will forever endure.”
While honoring Jackson, the convention stage was filled with veterans of Black preaching and the Civil Rights Movement, including the Rev. Otis Moss Jr., pastor emeritus at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, and former PNBC presidents.
Younger leaders said they relished the historic moment, but also saw it as a part of a new call to action.
“It was an emotional time because what became clear to me in that moment is that the soldiers who’ve been on the battlefield fighting are weary,” said the Rev. Keith Byrd Sr., PNBC first vice president, “and what they’re weary from, perhaps, is not so much the struggle, but the idea that nobody will step into the gap and take up where they leave off. If not us, then who?”
