Urban Peace Movement’s “Stop Pepper Spraying Our Kids!” campaign brings social justice message to seasonal celebration in Oakland
By Urban Peace Movement
Two teams. Two symbolic gingerbread houses. A dozen eager smiles. One goal: Smash the juvenile justice system to pieces.
After winning the “pathway to liberation” gingerbread house competition, youth organizers from Urban Peace Movement’s Leaders In Training program readied their fists for freedom as the countdown began. 5… 4…
UPM youth leader Narayan spoke to the symbolic gesture of liberation that he and more than 60 East Bay youth had gathered to support during the organization’s Justice Winter House event at Oakland’s Black Panther Party Museum.
“Let us move away from punishment and harm.” he said. “Time to smash the system so youth can thrive!”
The Justice Winter House town hall advanced UPM’s youth-driven campaign to end the use of pepper spray on young people held inside Alameda County’s juvenile detention facilities. The event was the second of its kind hosted by UPM youth organizers in Oakland this year.
Above: UPM Social Justice Committee leaders Rakeem and Sidona rally the audience to call for an end to the use of pepper spray on minors in custody in Alameda County at the Winter Justice House. Over 60 youth and community members attended the event at the Black Panther Party Museum in Oakland. Top: Youth members create symbolic gingerbread houses.
“We know that most counties in California operate juvenile facilities without ever deploying pepper spray on young people,” said Dieudonné Brou, Youth Advocacy & Program Coordinator at UPM.
“But when it comes to Alameda County — a place we proudly call a progressive beacon — it still authorizes staff to use pepper spray on detained youth,” Brou added.
“The blueprint exists. The alternatives exist. But Alameda County is lagging,” he explained.
TAKE ACTION: Call your supervisor to demand a ban on pepper spray in Alameda County juvenile detention facilities!
Find your representative’s contact number listed below!
As UPM youth members learned this year, youth in custody were targeted in 5,000 deployments of pepper spray from 2015-2018, an average of more than four per day statewide during the period.
Only three Bay Area counties still allow pepper spray on youth in custody, with seven others banning the practice entirely. Alameda County continues to authorize its use despite clear research documenting the harm it causes and compelling evidence from neighboring counties that it is unnecessary.
Studies of pepper spray use in California’s juvenile facilities also show alarming demographic disparities. In reporting counties like Orange and Merced, chemical weapons are disproportionately used on youth of color, according to a 2019 ACLU report.
Alameda County does not typically provide demographic data for analysis. However, during their Juvenile Facilities Programming Update in September, Probation officials reported a major uptick in the use of pepper spray from January to July this year. In the first two months of the year, the report tallies just three pepper spray use incidents. In June and July combined, there were 36 instances, even with an average of roughly 65 youth in custody during those months.
These alarming trends lead UPM youth leaders like Rakeem to redouble their campaign that calls on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to halt the use of pepper spray in the juvenile facilities it oversees.
“Ending pepper spray isn’t just a policy choice. It’s a moral one,” Naylor said during an impassioned address to event guests who filled the museum’s main gallery. “It’s our responsibility to build a system where safety is created through connection, not force!”
Before the ‘pathway to liberation’ activity got underway, youth leaders called upon their peers and community attendees to take action against the continuing abuse that youth face when held in East Bay juvenile facilities.
“Youth described fear, humiliation, and the feeling of being treated like adults in prison instead of teenagers who are still growing,” said Sidona, a member of UPM’s Social Justice Committee.
“Our message is clear: Safety comes from support, not chemical force!” she said to enthusiastic applause.
Then the games began.
The winner of Social Justice Bingo won a copy of Elaine Brown’s “A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story.” A snowball fight activity quizzed youth about their knowledge of the juvenile justice system. A spin of the Youth Justice wheel produced questions which, answered correctly, unlocked a complimentary hot chocolate.
Above: UPM youth leaders place a photo of the Revolutionary Chairman Fred Hampton on display at the Winter Justice House event, which was held on the anniversary of his killing in 1969 by police in Chicago. Top: The Black Panther Party Museum in downtown Oakland.
Capping the winter-themed activities, two teams competed to build figurative pathways to liberation. Brick by gingerbread brick, they designed alternative paths paved with gingerbread stones decorated with words about freedom, opportunity, affirmation, and the sacredness of young people.
Suddenly, the time was up. A vote was cast. A group had won.
The winning team gathered around two gingerbread houses that sat behind the path to liberation. One was adorned with the words “Pepper Spray” in white icing. The other bore the label “Youth Incarceration.” With a Stop Spraying Our Kids action tool kit displayed on the screen nearby, they started the countdown. 3… 2… 1…
By then, the event’s closing call to action echoed in everyone’s imagination.
“Ending the use of pepper spray in the juvenile hall isn’t just a policy change. It’s a commitment to change in culture, to dignity, healing, and real safety for our youth,’ urged Darryl, a member of UPM’s Determination Black Men’s Group.
“When it comes to policy—especially a Use of Force policy—it is the County Board of Supervisors that has the authority. They can end the use of pepper spray. They can mandate alternatives. They can protect young people,” Darryl implored.
“So tonight, let’s be clear about where the power sits, and why we are calling on them to use it.”
Time had finally come to smash the seasonal embodiment of the chemical weapons that harm youth in today’s incarceration system. In fighting forward on the path to liberation, no one held back.
TAKE ACTION
USE YOUR VOICE!!!
Call your Board of Supervisors representative! Leave a message calling for them to ban pepper spray in Alameda County juvenile hall!
David Haubert (Board President) District 1 — Dublin, Livermore, most of Fremont, part of Pleasanton, Sunol, unincorporated areas. (510) 272-6691
Eliza Márquez, District 2 — Most of Hayward, Newark, Union City, northern Fremont, Sunol/unincorporated areas. (510) 272-6692
Lena Tam (Vice President), District 3 — Alameda, San Leandro, parts of Oakland (Chinatown, San Antonio, Fruitvale, Melrose), San Lorenzo, Hayward Acres, Ashland. (510) 272-6693
Nate Miley, District 4 — Portions of Oakland (South Hills, Lower Hills, Elmhurst), Pleasanton, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Fairview, parts of Ashland, Sunol. (510) 272-6694
Nikki Fortunato Bas, District 5 — Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, parts of Oakland (West Oakland, North Oakland, North Hills). (510) 272-6695
About Urban Peace Movement
Urban Peace Movement (UPM) is an Oakland based nonprofit organization that leads campaigns and programs throughout Alameda County. UPM builds youth leadership to transform the culture and social conditions that lead to community violence & mass incarceration in communities of color. UPM leads with a “Healing-Centered Youth Organizing” model because we believe that organizing is healing and healing is organizing.