In April 1968, amidst a growing sense of Black Nationalism and facing widespread riots and disillusionment in the wake of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., roughly half of the then 150 Black Catholic Clergy met separately at the Catholic Clergy Conference on the Interracial Apostolate — the first time the nation’s Black Catholic Clergy had ever gathered as one body.  With a prophetic voice and after hours of intense deliberation, they published a statement; courageously called out the Catholic Church as a racist institution, proposing necessary changes for the Church to become viable in the Black community; but also, expressing hope in the future.  This meeting became the genesis for the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC).  The latter became a catalyst and inspiration for the formation of many other Black Catholic leadership organizations, institutions and publications.