In no area is the stewardship of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., more radiant than in the struggle for civil rights and human rights. The Convention was organized at the height of the Civil Rights Movement and the career of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Progressive National Baptist Convention was formed to give full voice, sterling leadership and active support to the American and world fight for human freedom. The convention was the convention-denominational home and platform for the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who addressed every annual session of the Convention until his death in 1968. In his valedictory of that year, President Gardner C. Taylor said, "As we remember Dr. Martin King's trials and triumphs, we remember our part in them.
