You might call them Martin Luther King’s Baptists.

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The progressives are convening in D.C. this week and observing 50 years since they broke away from the much-larger National Baptist Convention, which was then run by the late Reverend J.H. Jackson, who opposed marching for civil rights and Dr. King.

Mattie Robinson, 89, of D.C., remembers King’s sermons at Progressive member church Shiloh Baptist.

“And he sometimes you have to be radical and he was trying explain to us that Jesus Christ was radical,” she said.

They’ve come from coast to coast, some with intimate childhood memories.

“Back in the days when they would make their civil rights runs to Los Angeles, Dr. King and Abernathy would spent the night on my grandfather's house,” said Keith Woods of Los Angeles.

Many would see Dr. King at Progressive conventions, including one who first met him as a young Freedom Rider.

For a list of the Martin Luther Ling, Jr., events during the Week of Dedication, click here.