Black Pastors to Rally at DNC and Third Way Offices, Demanding "Substance Over Symbolism"

Coalition calls basic economic rights the unfinished work of the Civil Rights Movement

CLINTON, Md., Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As party institutions spend millions attacking the very economic agenda Black voters have championed for generations, Black pastors and congregations — led by the founder and the president of the Black Church Center for Justice & Equality, Dr. Delman Coates and Dr. Willie Francois III — will rally in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, September 17, outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters and the offices of Third Way. Third Way recently announced it will spend $15 million through 2028 to discredit the party's progressive populist movement, as first reported by The New York Times (Aug. 6, 2026).

The message of the Substance Over Symbolism Rally: the agenda advanced by the party's insurgent populists is a return to the economic justice agenda of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement — and the Black Church is calling on the DNC to embrace it. Despite claims that this populism is out of step with the Black community, Black voters never stopped supporting the call for basic economic rights that powered Rev. Jesse Jackson's campaigns in 1984 and 1988.

Specifically, the rally calls for the establishment of basic economic rights through passage of policies with broad public support:

"For too long the Black community has settled for symbolism rather than demanding substance," said Dr. Coates, Senior Pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, Md. "The Black Church must show up to dispel the narrative that this is not what the Black community wants and what America needs."

"The agenda advanced by the insurgent populists has a long history of deep support in the Black community, going back to the Freedom Budget," added Dr. Francois, Senior Pastor of Fountain Baptist Church in Summit, N.J., and Second Vice President of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. "It is time we dare to demand substance over symbolism."

Join the Rally

The public, faith leaders, and like-minded organizations are invited to attend. The rally begins Thursday, September 17, 12:00–2:00 p.m. at DNC Headquarters, 430 South Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC 20003, and continues 2:30–4:30 p.m. at Third Way, 1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. To attend, endorse, or bring a delegation, contact Eve Hemby at [email protected] or (301) 856-2170.

About the Black Church Center for Justice & Equality

Founded in 2013 by Dr. Delman Coates, the Black Church Center for Justice & Equality is a Washington, D.C.–based 501(c)(3) organization that reaffirms the social justice tradition of the Black Church and amplifies the voices of progressive African American faith leaders, equipping pastors and congregations with tools for public policy advocacy and civic action. Learn more at theblackchurch.net.

SOURCE The Black Church Center of Justice and Equality