Involvement in Labor and Ethnic Issues
From early exposure to the plight of farm workers, and later in student ministry to migrant workers, Martinez learned to appreciate the urgent need for poor people to organize themselves in order to participate more equitably in society. He worked with Cesar Chavez during the 1970s. He worked to establish the first federally funded health clinic for the poor of El Paso. Martinez also was a founding member of the National Hispanic Caucus in the U.M. Church in 1970. He also supported the organizing of poor fishermen on the island of Puerto Rico in the late 1970s.
Martinez worked on the initial proposals to the 1976 U.M. General Conference for a Missional Priority on the Ethnic Minority Local Church. He served on the Ethnic Minority Local Church Inter-Agency Committee on the Missional Priority (1976-80). He later chaired the National Missional Priority Coordinating Committee during the 1984-88 quadrennium. During the 1988-92 quadrennium, he served as Secretary of the National Committee to Develop a Plan for Hispanic Ministry, and was President of the National Hispanic Caucus (1987-90).
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