Connecting Generations Through Cultural Healing
Background
A strong connection to one’s cultural heritage can powerfully shape a person’s life. It brings a sense of belonging, a set of values, a network of caring individuals, and assurances of security. When embraced as a precious inheritance, it blossoms into a spirit-centered way of understanding our place on earth, our purpose for being, and our bonds to each other.
Yet, especially in the U.S. today, many people face intense disconnection from their roots, their elders, and any genuine sense of belonging. This is especially true among young people who carry forward history’s burden of discrimination, social disparities, and constant pressure to assimilate away from their cultural traditions, social norms, and true ancestry. Technology has made the situation even worse, increasing personal isolation while offering on-demand escapism and the normalization of discord and violence.
The MILPA Collective (MILPA) is led by formerly incarcerated people and aligned minds. An acronym for Motivating Intergenerational Leadership for Public Advancement, its name also references the Uto-Aztecan Nahuatl word milli — the fertile ground where seeds of transformation take root and grow.
Through a wide range of programs and services, MILPA’s efforts all focus on transforming lives by cultivating a sense of purpose, cultural connection, spiritual grounding, and guidance from others who have traversed similar paths.
“MILPA is an unfolding prayer, and we thank the Four Sacred elements: 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? What will we do?” executive director, Juan Gomez states.
“MILPA blends cultural healing and intergenerational leadership practices to ensure staff, interns, and participants develop a shared ethos and feel safe while engaging in public discourse, advocacy, and organizing.”
Overview
Feeling Safe, Seen & Sacred
Based in and branching out from its inception in California’s Monterey County, MILPA’s reach extends throughout the U.S. via its training programs and technical assistance. Notably, as a co-originator of the Restoring Promise, an initiative whose programmatic evaluation was funded by the National Institute of Justice, worked with correctional professionals and inmates to transform seven prison housing units across eight states. The goal has been to drastically decrease institutional violence there while strengthening family reunification. Similarly, the Rikers Island Project in New York facilitated staff and inmate training that integrated Indigenous practices and approaches to support healing and culture change within one of the nation’s most notorious jails.
Efforts such as these aren’t just about fighting against the symptoms of injustice and dysfunction that exist today. Instead, they’re focused on reimagining and rebuilding a future where individuals lead with purpose, kinship, connectivity to nature, and a deep sense of ancestral and spiritual connection.
As one MILPA participant describes the experience, “A few years before MILPA was even a thought in the universe, I had lost my mother and, at the same time, my dad was making his transition back into my life from being in and out of prison. Growing up with young parents was like navigating the world for the first time all together….Through MILPA, my parents and I were given spaces and materials to help us understand and cope with our baggage, all while connecting us back to our roots in ways that were stripped from us in the not-so-late past.
“I have participated in more groups and events than I could name. But what I can say is that all these groups have made me feel safe, seen, and sacred, feelings that had been lost to me as a child. MILPA allowed me a home away from home, a place where I was able to build my own community, all while getting closer to the one that raised me.”
MILPA has been developing cultural connection and resiliency for generations to come through the work outlined below.
Key Components
Storytelling and Cultural Narrative Design
Connectivity to Nature and Environmental Immersions
Youth and Family Empowerment Services
Family Engagement and Support
Community and Policy Advocacy
Rites of Passage
Impact
“MILPA uses healing-informed, relationship-centered approaches that incubate next-generation leadership while rethinking accountability and striving for racial justice to end mass incarceration.”
— Juan Gomez, Executive Director
Increased inspiration and connection to cultural roots.
Culturally informed sense of personal dignity and worth.
Increased self-awareness and connection to family.
Improved well-being and social connections, reduced anxiety.
Improved acclimation to adulthood, often including attending a college or university.
Increased academic achievement, especially attendance and graduation rates.
Decreased school suspension and expulsion rates.
Decreased gun and gang violence in communities served.
Improved communication and relationships with parents and/or siblings.
Conclusion
How Spirituality Makes This Work Different
A guiding principle of MILPA’s work is a spiritual framework grounded in indigenous thought, narrative, and symbolism. It’s a sacred bond of promise that allows participants to evolve through a collective analysis of faith, hope, love, and charity.
Recognizing the spiritual interconnectedness of all of life, MILPA intentionally cultivates an appreciation for ancestors and elders who came before and whose cultural healing practices to this day root people in love and caring.
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