Our Mission
Rooted in Holyoke, Pa’lante builds youth power to heal and transform interpersonal harm and systemic injustices.
Our Vision
Pa’lante envisions a world where youth use their inherent power to create strong, healthy, intergenerational communities free from oppression and injustice.
What we do
- Pa’lante’s work centers around two core practices: indigenous circle practice and youth participatory action research.
- Youth leaders use circle practice to support our communities to address harm, grieve, solve problems, heal from trauma and oppression, as well as to celebrate victories. We have been very fortunate to develop our approach under the ongoing mentorship of Dr. Sayra Owens Pinto, who grounds her model in indigenous governance practices, the fields of organizational development, leadership development, Critical Race Theory, indigenous theories, Black Feminist Thought, and popular education.
- In addition to hosting circles, Pa’lante youth design a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project each year, where they engage in critical action research to address a problem that is relevant to their lived experience. For example, students used their research as the foundation of a campaign to transform Holyoke High School’s In-House Suspension Room into a Student Support Room, which is staffed by Peer Leaders, therapist interns, and a full-time coordinator.
- The name Pa’lante is a reference to the Young Lords, who were a group of young people of color, primarily Puerto Ricans, who worked to address racism, police injustice, poor health care, and tenants’ rights in in the sixties and seventies. Their legacy reminds us that anything is possible when young people of color organize for change. “Pa’lante”, which means “moving forward!”, was the name of Young Lords’ newspaper.
- Finally, Pa’lante gets involved in all kinds of other work relevant to our mission!
Our History
From 2013-2015, students, teachers, and community members organized to begin to change the policies and practices at the root of Holyoke Public Schools’ legacy of school pushout. Pa’lante launched in 2015 with one full time staff member and 15 student leaders, as a collaboration through the River Valley Counseling Center Teen Clinic and Holyoke High School. For nearly seven years, we were housed entirely within and through the Holyoke Public Schools. However, as of March, 2022 we opened a community-based location in downtown Holyoke, and in June, 2022 we changed our name to Pa’lante Transformative Justice. Our six-person staff team includes four Pa’lante alumni, and we are now led by 40 student leaders representing all different parts of Holyoke.
Our Values
Youth Leadership: We believe in young people’s inherent wisdom and power, and in their capacity to envision and create the conditions they need to thrive. We value intergenerational solidarity, sharing power, and supporting youth to lead in every aspect of the organization.
Healing: We strive to create a culture of healing and transformation for ourselves, our communities, our ancestors and future generations. We center accountability as we strive to repair, heal and transform both interpersonal and systemic harm.
Justice: We shift power to those most impacted by oppression, colonization, and the school to prison pipeline in our pursuit of justice. We uplift those pushed to the margins and address the root causes of suffering and harm in our communities.
Love: Love is at the heart of everything we do. Our work is driven by radical love for ourselves, our communities, and all young people. We center community care, authenticity, deep relationships, and a shared sense of belonging and home.
Honoring Native Languages: We honor our ancestors by speaking our native languages and embracing the history and culture they carry. We create accessible spaces that center marginalized languages, and encourage each other to offer translation and learn each others’ languages.
Joy/Fun: We reclaim joy and playfulness in a world that so often demands suffering and productivity. We play, laugh, and celebrate with a purpose – to learn, to heal, and to celebrate together.
We are grateful to our generous funders!
Nellie Mae Education Foundation, NoVo Foundation, MA Department of Public Health, Shannon Community Safety Initiative, Resource Generation, Holyoke Public Schools, The New England Grassroots Environment Fund, TKF Spirit Fund/Orange County Community Foundation, Peace Development Fund, Burgess Urban Fund, Mount Pleasant Fund, the Visionary Freedom Fund, MA Dept of Public Health, MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services and many individual donors!
Reports
Read the Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Schools and Classrooms profile on Pa’lante from the MA Department of Education