Texas Black Caucus Foundation: A Community Thrives

The Texas Black Caucus Foundation is on a mission to advance racial justice and social equity through education, engagement, and empowerment programs. Invested in driving meaningful change, we work daily to fight systemic injustice, eliminate racial discrimination and violence, and improve the lives of all Black Texans. For the last 35 years, our foundation has worked for racial equity and justice.  However, the current climate has highlighted the need to do more in Texas now! Therefore, we are scaling the organization to meet this important challenge.

Historically, the levers of governmental and financial power in Texas have been used to create equity gaps to the detriment of underrepresented communities of color. Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson, a proud Texan, outlined a series of ambitious policy initiatives and programs called the “Great Society.”  Texans and the nation hoped this ambitious social reform plan and the signing of the Civil Rights Act would bring equality, equity and opportunity to people of all races. Unfortunately, that has not been the outcome. 

For example, the state’s economic prosperity, coined as “the Texas Miracle,” has not affected all Texans equally. In fact the racial wealth divide in the State has been well documented and is exacerbated now as Black families are disproportionately impacted in both healthcare and financial stability because of the COVID-19 pandemic. To build thriving Black communities in the State, the public sector, private sector, and nonprofits must unite and create equitable access to resources across a wide variety of areas, including education, employment, healthcare, housing, nutrition, and the criminal justice system.  

Texans are now at an inflection point in the movement for civil rights and justice. We’re witnessing the cracks in the state’s social system, especially around criminal justice, public safety and prison reform, leading to inequality, discrimination, and even violence. Additionally, we are seeing modern-day barriers to the ballot box, potentially leading to a lack of minority representation at the polls. How we respond to these challenges will impact Texans now and for future generations.

In our current climate of civic and social unrest, political tension, and the global pandemic, it’s critical we use data and facts to find solutions to long-standing structural problems. The Caucus members believe that to solve the complex issues stemming from racism and systemic inequities we must use our individual and collective power, influence, and resources to make transformative societal changes. The Texas Legislative Black Caucus is re-establishing a data-driven, policy oriented, research foundation to assist in their legislative efforts.   

The Texas Legislative Black Caucus Foundation has built a coalition of civil, business, educational, religious, and community leaders. Texans are proud, innovative, and collaborative - it’s time we come together to implement lasting change. It’s time for all Texans to benefit from the economic prosperity of the state. It’s time to turn our faith values into action. It’s time we invest in all Texans.