In this moving kickoff to The PlayFull Podcast’s new “Brave Voices” series, host Kristine Michie is joined by Edgar Villanueva—author, activist, and founder of the Decolonizing Wealth Project—for a vulnerable, powerful conversation about truth-telling, repair, and joyful resistance. With deeply personal stories and bold new initiatives, Edgar and Kristine invite listeners into a visionary conversation about healing our systems and ourselves. This is a must-listen for changemakers ready to root their impact in courage, equity, and play.
Key Takeaways:
- Edgar Villanueva's work reclaims philanthropy as a form of spiritual and cultural healing, rooted in his own personal and ancestral history.
- Reparations, at their core, are about repairing broken systems for the collective good, not about loss or blame.
- The Decolonizing Wealth Project has launched a $20 million Youth Mental Health Fund prioritizing BIPOC and queer youth with support from Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures!
- DWP has launched a $1 trillion moonshot for reparative justice over the next decade.
- Liberated Capital operates as a multi-racial, community-guided giving platform where members can contribute starting at $5/month. Anyone can join!
- Edgar emphasizes the importance of humor and joy as tools for resilience and community in justice movements.
- Reparative philanthropy isn’t about saviorism—it’s about redistributing power and trusting community-led solutions.
- Over 23 local commissions across the U.S. are actively exploring or implementing reparations today.
- Even amid polarization and despair, Edgar believes healing is possible through love, grace, and deep spiritual engagement.
"We all want to move forward, and it's really hard to do that in a real, authentic way in a country that refuses to recognize what has happened." — Edgar Villanueva
"Reparations is not only about repairing historical harm; it's about fixing our country in a way that benefits everyone." — Edgar Villanueva
"I invite folks to take on the identity of being a healer, and all of us doing what we can to heal even a little might help repair the mess we're in." — Edgar Villanueva
Episode References:
Solidarity By Design from Decolonizing Wealth Project: https
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