This Q&A series introduces Urban Peace Movement’s newest team members to our community and online network. It was recorded live, and edited for length and clarity.  

Could you share your name, your pronouns, and your favorite birthday dessert? 

I’m Maria Cepeda. She, her. I love carrot cake, and anything with cream cheese frosting. Um, I also love, like, key lime pie. It’s hard to choose, really!

What is your role at UPM?

I am the Member Organizing Manager at UPM. I collaborate with the different program heads on curriculum building, support, leading sessions, and process design. I help to expand on the programs and really be of support to the other program leads. 

If you’re successful in your role, what will be the signs that you’re doing a really good job with youth members? 

Their voices are louder! Um, right now during check-ins, they say [quietly] “hi, my name is, I’m feeling like a 7 today…” So I’d like for them to project, use their strong voices, and make eye contact. Then I’ll know that they’re feeling empowered, and that their confidence has gone up. 

What’s something unique about UPM that you find inspiring so far? 

The people that work here are as wonderful as people imagine or as I had heard. The collective of the UPM staff, I think, is a hidden gem. It really is a beautiful collective of people and with so many different stories, backgrounds, life experiences. Somehow we all ended up here, sharing a mutual purpose. 

I think that’s important, because a lot of times people come together to do “positive work,” but they don’t seem to share the same purpose. And here, I feel like people do have a shared purpose and vision. I’m like, oh, all right, we’re really about this. So that feels good. 

What past experiences made you interested in youth organizing work? 

At Oakland Food Connection back in 2009, I was leading a group of youth in a summer internship. I would drive us around East Oakland in a short bus, and we’d go to different homes to build edible food gardens. That experience, creating curriculum for that, seeing youth doing a positive thing with their time felt rewarding. 

A lot of them never, you know, held soil, or talked about what composting is, or planted seeds or seedlings, and to see that care that went into these gardens, and  to see how soft they were with the plants, that was my favorite. That and organizing youth programs for access to meditation and breathing techniques, and seeing them literally open their eyes up after, you know, having their eyes closed, and being like, Whoa! Like, what was that? What is this? To see them in real time have a reflection of their true selves, and seeing them experiencing peace, and relaxation, and that it is possible to find calmness. 

Why does UPM’s focus on violence prevention and ending youth incarceration matter to you and members of your community? 

It matters a lot to me on a personal level. I’ve lost family to gun violence in Oakland. My cousin was in his thirties and he was shot and killed by a 19-year-old over a parking spot. The level of pain… it never leaves you. And for that 19-year-old, his life is ruined, and his family is also grieving and mourning. 

I’ve also experienced firsthand the pain of a loved one being incarcerated. It sort of just follows them the rest of their lives. It really affects the whole family, and the way you perceive the world after that type of trauma, and then the way the world perceives you. 

All of this work and UPM’s focus on ending violence and the mass incarceration that our black and brown youth experience is important to me because I’ve experienced it and I see the damaging effects of it. That’s why it’s important that we focus on ways to avoid the violence because then it just creates more and more chaos. 

What’s one other social justice cause you care a lot about personally? 

I think a big social justice issue is environmental justice. The government, the ‘man,’ — whatever you want to call it — they try to compartmentalize or separate social justice issues, and it really is like one major issue, right? It’s the people, versus those that are only interested in profit. I think environmental injustice is so big especially in our communities because people with scarce social and economic resources or access suffer so much. We see that with access to food or clean water or just the environment here in Oakland. 

Are there any historical or contemporary figures that you continue to draw inspiration from? How do they kind of anchor you, or push you to be your full self in the work you’re doing? 

Well, this one makes me emotional. So many mentors and friends turned into family. I’d say Clarke Weatherspoon… Sorry if I choke up… I just love these people [dabs tears]. Clarke Weatherspoon. My girl Rosa Gonzalez. You know, it’s… uncommon to meet people that walk the talk. We’re all human, and people have all kinds of stuff going on, but these are people that always show integrity. And so, I admire them, and I’m grateful, because they are super solid people. They show up, not just as community leaders and educators and activists, but also they show up for people in personal ways. 

Also, his holiness, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (I call him Gurudev) who I learned a lot of breathing and meditation from. He’s a guru from South India. I’ve been in his presence since like 2006. I think he’s definitely the teacher, you know, like my teacher. 

What are your favorite things about Oakland? 

Well, when I grew up in Oakland in the 90s, it was the diversity, right? I just remember as a kid being like, wow, you’re from Laos, Mien, Yemen, Samoa, Tonga, and places like these small, small countries, going to people’s homes and seeing the grandmas, the Laotian grandmas with the head wraps and the beautiful garments, their clothes, and eating their food. 

My favorite part of Oakland is the people. Shout out to the community of African descendants who came during the Great Migration. We have to recognize that a lot of what makes Oakland rich and so amazing is that it was established by the migration from the South. There were also Portuguese migrants, Mexican migrants, and now Central Americans… I can drive up and down and have Guatemalan food, Salvadorian food, Thai food, Japanese food.

I think another thing that made me so proud was to know about the Black Panther Party, the Brown Berets, the Chicano Movement, and knowing how a lot of that started here or had a profound impact on other people wanting to start liberation movements. That is another thing that I love about Oakland. Something’s in the air where people just turn up, and if it ain’t right we want to do something about it.

Best place to bring someone who’s visiting Oakland for the first time? 

Depends what they’re into. It’s funny because in the 90s you didn’t have any business coming to downtown except to go to Sears [laughs]. Now there’s a lot of places to eat and have a drink in downtown Oakland. 

But, I would definitely take them to Redwood Regional Park. I always take people to nature because then they’re like, “This is Oakland? What?” Just the hills, the forest, nature. Joaquin Miller or Butters Hill, that’s a great view, so definitely all the Oakland nature view spots. 

 

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.