Justice Work at Oakland Peace Center
A few weeks ago, after lunch, I packed up my camera gear in our office and headed downstairs to talk to Belinda. The community engagement site where I work is the Oakland Peace Center, which seeks to facilitate cross-pollination and cooperation between its more than 40 partner organization in the Bay Area. The wonderful thing about working at the Oakland Peace Center through NBA XPLOR is that I have the opportunity to work with inspirational people every day.
Belinda is one of those people. She is the founder of a nonprofit called Project Darreis, which is housed in the same building as the Oakland Peace Center. Belinda founded the organization in memory of her son, who was shot and killed not far from our office. I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to sit down with Belinda and talk about the beginning of Project Darreis. This video is a result of that conversation.
Caleb Greydanus is a 2016-17 NBA XPLOR Resident in Golden Gate, CA, serving with Forest Hill Christian Church in San Francisco and Oakland Peace Center.
Also find updates from Caleb through the Christian Church in Northern California-Nevadaregional newsletter!
The last few months in the XPLOR program have been busy and active. What stands out to me as I reflect on my time here in the Bay area is the exceptional people I have had the pleasure of meeting.
My host congregation at Forest Hill is an incredible group of people. Their fun-loving kindness and palpable goodwill has always given me joy on Sunday mornings. I have also been blessed with a community engagement site that is filled with intriguing people of grace and wisdom. I work as an intern at the Oakland Peace Center. The passion of my mentor and supervisor has pushed me to grow in my understanding of the world. Getting to know the people who work in our partner organizations and the people at FCCO has also been a highlight of my experience. The building may be old, but the people are young in spirit. I look forward to continuing to be around such exemplars.
A major gratifying part of these past few months has been my realization that I belong in a classroom as a teacher. I have had the opportunity to volunteer in a local school, and I now know that is my path forward. There have been ups and downs in my XPLOR experience. There has been discomfort and challenge. But, I think these experiences will make me better prepared as a teacher, and that is worth the world to me. I want to thank all Disciples out there for making this program possible for me and all the other XPLOR Residents.
February 10 >>
As the new year began, there was the typical slew of new diets and healthy food cleanses that tend to proliferate across the internet in January. Over the past three weeks I have helped curate a 21-day “Peace Cleanse” for the Oakland Peace Center. The idea of the “Peace Cleanse” is to help create a healthy information diet. For three weeks, we have shared stories of peace, possibility, and hope with our friends and larger community.
My work for the peace cleanse has been an incredibly fortifying and encouraging experience. It is no secret that our politics on the national scene has been dysfunctional, disheartening, and disastrous – to say the least. No matter what side you are on, it is difficult to deny the vitriol and debilitation. The idea of both sides coming together to work out some sort of compromise on policy issues seems a quaint, far-off distant dream. The reason the peace cleanse was so invigorating was that I learned the stories of many people mobilizing on the local scale to solve problems affecting their city or area.
The amount that can be accomplished when a small group of people come together to better the lives of folks in their own community is powerful. On the local scale, many organizations are moving forward with solutions that work. For example, some of the solutions we covered in the peace cleanse were the practice of mindfulness in schools, the use of restorative justice instead of punishment and incarceration, and the growing urban gardens in Oakland which provide good employment opportunities for returning citizens. These practices lead to better outcomes for individuals and the community. It felt good to hear the stories of these advances being done locally all over the country at the grassroots level. I encourage you to find a place in your community where you can get involved. Much of the work ahead has to happen in localities on a grassroots level. It is amazing what can be accomplished by a community coming together to solve their problems!
NBA XPLOR is a 10-month service residency opportunity for young adults ages 21-30, with the purpose of empowering young adults to discern and develop a “heart for care” as they live together in simple community, engage in direct service and justice work, engage in leadership development, and discern their vocational calls to honor the various communities they are called to serve. Learn more and apply at nbacares.org/xplor.
