Ft Worth Times

A racial equality movement advocating for minority-focused job opportunities and prison reform will soon come to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area. 

CommCap-America, an organization that promotes equality, economic security and capitalism for minorities, has recently announced its #Unite2Fight4EconomicRights Revitalizing Our American Dreams (ROADS) tour, a movement under CommCap's #Blacks&Whites campaign to promote racial harmony in America. 

Pastor Herman Martir, a volunteer working in outreach and event organization for CommCap, told Fort Worth Times that the purpose of the tour is to mobilize minorities to collectively address issues that hinder them, such as poverty, job opportunities for minorities and the future for former inmates. 

"The issue of race is number one," Martir said. "There's been a lot of problems with our community, especially with the violence that is happening. It's destroying our community, it's bringing poverty."

One of the most prevalent issues that minority communities face is job opportunities, especially for recently freed inmates. Martir said that a fundamental part of CommCap's mission, as many joining the organization are ex-convicts, is to re-train those who have left the prison system, provide economic resources, and create a path that leads to stable employment and healthy environments to better support a family life.

"We need to bring healing and transformation to a divided city," Martir said. "We need to make sure that we provide jobs, retrain people who come out of prison and advocate for prison reform."

The organization works with presidential administrations, city leaders and state governors to ensure that the needs of minorities, and freed inmates, are appropriately prioritized. 

"We want to work with everyone in our community," Martir stated. "It's important that we look beyond this election to see this community totally revitalized."

CommCap has worked closely with the President Trump administration on prison reform, having met at the White House repeatedly throughout his presidency to discuss action. That opportunity to advocate for policy reform has not always been there, Martir said. With the incarceration rate of minorities, especially Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans, the need for prison reform is important now more than ever.

"We want to work with every administration," he said. "We want to work closely with them on prison reform, also bringing investment into poor communities, especially some of the immigrant communities that have been neglected in the past. The Trump administration has given us the most attention and opportunities. He's met with us. Not just once but on a continual basis. Constantly, we have African Americans and Hispanic Americans going to the White House to meet with the president on urban revitalization and prison reform."

Martir said that the group's lobbying efforts have fallen on deaf ears in the past. 

"Administration after administration has promised to do something about it. After the election we will meet with President Trump again about a new initiative. We are thankful for the opportunity he's given us. This administration has given us a lot of opportunity to move forward. We are worried that this issue might be buried again."

The pastor feels that having a different administration in the White House would set back CommCap's progress made with President Trump. 

While the details of the ROADS tour have not been finalized yet, Martir said that CommCap will visit the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex areas soon. 

"I believe this movement is needed [in D-FW] because a lot of people are asking for it," Martir said. "Politicians give promises, but are they going to follow through? Are they going to honor the promises? I believe that Texas will benefit from this program and this initiative because we are bringing all minorities together and tackling their issues."