Too often schools default to punitive justice. A fight happens, classes are skipped, and the student is suspended. If a student misses school why would you make them miss more? If a student is acting out in class or fighting, why not ask the deeper questions to help the student? Suspension is the lazy solution. It is telling that student that you do not want them there and that can only hurt them more. Instead, the first thing the administration should ask is why are they fighting? Why are they always late to school? And why are they acting out? How can we help? Sierra Stewart, an alumna of the Pa’lante Restorative Justice Program and former employee shared the reality of this saying “The students that are the ‘most difficult’ are the ones who need the most support, and the most care, and the village to really sit there and hold them.”
Back in 2012, the Holyoke Public Schools had the fourth-highest suspension rate for Latino students in the country. Holyoke High School had been known as ground zero for the school-to-prison pipeline in Massachusetts. The school-to-prison pipeline is the connection between harsh disciplinary practices in school being a catalyst for students who end up involved in the criminal justice system. When a student is suspended it is harmful to their education and life. Research over time has shown that suspending a student does not help the situation. Away from school they become disconnected from their community and become more likely to get suspended again or enter the criminal justice system.
Researchers at Education Next found that strict middle and high schools that have harsh punishments often result in a high risk of being arrested as an adult. They found that “Approximately 12 percent of our sample eventually drops out of high school, while 23 percent attend a 4-year college within 12 months of their expected graduation date. Between the ages of 16 and 21 years old, 19 percent are arrested at least once and 13 percent are incarcerated at least once.”
In 2015, a group of students, counselors, and teachers worked together and decided enough was enough. Drawing inspiration from the legacy of the Young Lords and other young people of color throughout history who have organized for justice and liberation, they launched the Pa’lante Restorative Justice Program. Today, they are known as Pa’lante Transformative Justice.
Pa’lante is currently working on a guidebook with the history of the organization and how to implement transformative justice in schools and the community. The Massachusetts Department of Education provides some context on the community of Holyoke: “Home to the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans outside of the island, Holyoke, Massachusetts is rich with cultural assets, creativity, and pride. However, it is also one of the most financially impoverished and racially segregated cities in the state, with one of the state’s lowest-performing school districts. Students of color continue to face an opportunity gap in graduation rates, discipline rates, honors/AP enrollment, college access, extracurricular engagement, and performance on standardized tests. English Language Learners and students with disabilities are disadvantaged further, with only about two-thirds graduating in four years.”
The name Pa’lante was chosen as a way of connecting to the work of the Young Lords. They were young Puerto Ricans and other people of color living in New York and Chicago who organized to fight for the needs of their community, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their newspaper was called Pa’lante, meaning “forward” in Spanish.
Pa’lante has a set of core values that guide their work; these are Youth Leadership, Healing, Justice, Love, Honoring Native Languages, and Joy/Fun. Their work involves Indigenous Circle Practice. Circle practice was outlawed until 1978 as part of laws that prohibited Indigenous people from participating in their traditional rituals. Because of this, Indigenous people kept the practice alive in secret, under dangerous circumstances. Pa’lante teachers in this practice include Dr. Sayra Pinto, who learned from the Mohawk and Wampanoag people; José Lugo, who learned his teachings from his Mexica and Lakota elders; and Rolf Cachat (Cache) of the Mohawk and Nipmuc people. Dr. Pinto also learned from Tlingit elders from the Yukon in what is now northwestern Canada. This practice is key in healing harm in the community and building safe spaces. This practice has reduced suspensions in HHS and other county spaces.
Pa’lante also implements YPAR to embody their values, which stands for Youth Participatory Action Research. YPAR centers around youth researching issues impacting them in their community. This is a yearly project for Pa’lante peer leaders. In the past, their projects have been the Hidden Legends, where they conducted research finding “inequities in visual representations throughout the school, as well students’ profound lack of access to histories of communities of color. A particularly striking example was the school’s Hall of Fame, which features a wall of portraits of distinguished HHS graduates, of which 98% are white and 90% are male.” More about the Pa’lante Hidden Legends Project can be found here.
The organization’s work has also created safe spaces for students in and out of school, a racism audit, an expansion of the ethnic studies program, an organization for the school community to prevent the administration from implementing an inequitable random search policy, and more. The program is structured so that students take the lead. They learn how to research, conduct circles, be leaders in their community, organize, advocate, and voice their opinions. The organization structures itself so students can grow in the program and gain more responsibilities, opportunities, and money. Former peer leaders often stay connected to the program as alumni, many of which now sit on the Board of Directors, as adult allies, or as staff.
Janeyah Madera, a peer leader shared in their 2023-2024 annual report, “Pa’lante has given me a sense of direction for the future and showed me not only the beauty of my city and community, but the beautiful and wonderful things that can happen when youth are empowered. No amount of words can capture the love and joy that I’ve experienced here. It’s one of those things that you have to be there to truly understand. I’ve laughed, cried, and even been angry, but judgment harbors no place in Pa’lante.”
There are six levels of engagement for Holyoke community members. There are members (13-19 years of age who can drop in and access Pa’lante’s resources, which are free and open to all), Peer Leaders (13-19 years of age who are trained students who earn $10/hour), Peer Mentors (Youth staff ages 13-19 who earn $15/hour who shadow staff and are leaders), alumni (ages 19-25 who stay engaged in the program), and Alumni staff (ages 19+ who hold a permanent staff position). This structure allows for the growth and development of community members. In November 2023, Pa’lante made a big move and opened a Youth Leadership Hub at 220 Linden Street, with a by-youth-for-youth drop-in center for Holyoke youth ages 13-19. This has become an important space for youth in the community.
Pa’lante has had a beautiful impact on the Holyoke community. It highlights the strength, resilience, and pride of Holyoke. The impact of the youth has resulted in growth and transformation in and out of the school. For many students and staff, Pa’lante is family and their safe space. This type of healing justice will surely have a generational impact, changing how we view power, justice, discipline, and society. What will Pa’lante do next?
Learn more about Pa’lante Transformative Justice through their social media where they update regularly about upcoming events, workshops, and programs. You can also learn about them through their website palanteholyoke.org. Become a monthly donor through the butterfly effect and support the youth and their inherent power! Sign up for a tour with Pa’lante Peer Leaders!
Every Pa’lante meeting and circle ends with a chant from political activist Assata Shakur. This chant is used globally as a powerful call to action! So it seems only right to end this with said chant…
“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.
Es nuestro deber luchar por nuestra libertad.
Es nuestro deber vencer.
Debemos amarnos los unos a los otros y apoyarnos.
No tenemos nada que perder pero nuestras cadenas.”
Assata Shakur
