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USA250 Journal Project
Personal Chronicle: July 4, 2025 – July 5, 2026
A gift for reflection. A record of now. A story for what’s next.
✍️ “Who am I?”
I’m Anaya Powell.
Black daughter of Black farmers. Grew up learning how to listen to the soil and fight for the right to keep it.
I left Florida to get my degree. I came back to make sure no one else had to leave to be respected.
I believe in data and dirt. In charts and compost.
I believe you can grow food without destroying what feeds you.
Some call me a radical. I say I’m just trying to make sure we all survive.
I’m here for the long haul. For the land. For the people.
For every farmer who ever had to choose between spraying poison or losing a season.
✍️ “How did I get here?”
I was raised on borrowed land. Watched my parents scrape together a living while bigger operations rolled past in air-conditioned trucks.
I got into Harvard on scholarship. Learned how the system works from the inside. Got mad. Got focused. Learned how to write grants, speak to press, get results.
But every time I walked past a grocery store full of oranges while my parents couldn’t sell theirs, I knew where I needed to be.
So I came back.
Started a co-op. Taught workshops. Sat at kitchen tables with families who didn’t trust me—until I helped them fix an irrigation line or explain a state subsidy form in plain English.
That’s how I met the Ortizes.
Carolina saw the logic. Miguel didn’t say much. Mateo? That boy is watching the world break open and wants to do it right.
I’m not here to save anyone. I’m here to remind folks we still have choices.
What has life taught me?
That land justice is climate justice.
That real change happens in the field—not the boardroom.
And that organizing is an act of faith.
Friends & Associates
Miguel Oritz – Friend.
Mateo Oritz – Friend.
Don Julio Salinas – Friend.
