
“Countless Black American pastors emphasized love in the pursuit of justice even before Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s rise. Figures like Baptist pastor Rev. Clayton Powell Sr., A.M.E. bishop Rev. Cassius Ranson, and Zion pastor Rev Florence Randolph were just some of the earlier church leaders that pushed for reconciliation and “hope across racial, ethnic, and class lines within their congregations … Black communit[ies], and the wider culture.”