About Us
MILPA Collective (MILPA) is, first and foremost, a movement space designed for, and led by, formerly incarcerated and system-impacted individuals. We are committed to supporting next-generation infrastructure and leadership within communities, organizations, and systems. We center cultural healing, racial equity and LOVE in our practices and advocacy.
Our Mission
To cultivate Change Makers for the Next Seven Generations by creating opportunities for cultural healing, intergenerational leadership, and empowerment through community-driven decision making for healthier communities.
Our Vision
The Next Seven Generations are culturally rooted with pathways to be successful, healthy and live oppression-free.
Our History
The vision and ideas behind MILPA are rooted in the history that our health, well-being, and liberation are intergenerational. Many of us are second-generation activists, coming from migrant workers whose parents or grandparents were involved in the farmworker movement or women-led cannery strikes. MILPA comes from a lineage of abuelos and abuelitas who provided for their families and fought, protected, and prayed for this generation to have a future.
Furthermore, MILPA was formed because we grasped the baton and began re-asserting our indigeneity, cultural traditions, and interconnection to this continent we call Turtle Island. We hold that government-based identification does not determine our connection to this land or our right to self-identify as indigenous. For us, the work we do is an unfolding prayer, and we thank the Four Sacred elements, the Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Our history reminds us of questions that guide our values and future:
- Who are we?
- What do we value?
- Where do we come from?
- And, where are we going?