How poetry and entrepreneurship reclaim dignity and joy in the Deep East Oakland community
Deyci Carrillo López is a poet and organizer from Deep East Oakland. Through Pura Vida 510 and La Emprendedora En Mí (The Entrepreneur Within Me), she builds art-driven spaces for healing, community power, and entrepreneurship.
Editor’s note: This interview is part of the Hopelab series, Built by Us: Gen Z Women on Purpose, Passion & Power, and has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m Deyci Carrillo López, an undocumented poet who found my voice at 13. I’m a proud daughter of Guanajuato, México, raised in Deep East Oakland. I’m a creative butterfly, blooming in every stage of my life, and I write so our community can own its magic through poetry and art. My lineage is courage, sacrifice, and triumphs, and I carry that forward in my work.”
Cooking with my mom. It’s a space where culture, stories, and memories are created. My mom is a very special person to me, and I know cooking for her is her love language. Cooking is also a time when I get to slow down and really be in the moment.
It means hope, fire, and phoenixes walking the streets. We have the power to destroy ourselves, but we also have the power to rebirth ourselves. Right now, we’re leaning into destroying ourselves, and I want to inspire us. I want us to lean into rebirthing the communities we want. We come from communities and cultures where people look out for each other.
Pura Vida 510 is a little bit of everything—advocacy, poetry, community. I hope to inspire little and big humans to own and discover their magic through poetry and art, and showcase the beauty of Oakland. There are so many narratives out there about what Oakland is and what Oakland isn’t. With Pura Vida 510, I hope to show that there’s magic here. The youth have dreams, and if we are given the resources, we can make them happen. We’ve held events with zero budgets, brought people together to be in community, and bonded with each other.
La Emprendedora En Mí is a project that brings resources to Latina entrepreneurs in Oakland and in the Bay. The LA community really embraces Latina entrepreneurs, but what’s happening in the Bay? We wanted to highlight that entrepreneurship already lives in us. Just because we’re not entrepreneurs, quote unquote, “on paper,” doesn’t mean we’re not entrepreneurs. Our eloteros [street corn vendors] are entrepreneurs, our paleteros [popsicle vendors] are entrepreneurs, the tamale lady is an entrepreneur, and why aren’t we calling them that? Foster that and bring that to life.
We bring in people to share their narratives and their stories, but we don’t give them the opportunity to hold the mic, to lead that protest, to make that decision. They know what’s needed in their communities and what’s being talked about. Give them the opportunity to make those calls. Put them at the front, give them the mic, and say, “Okay, we were born ready for you, and we’re here to back you up every step of the way.”
I go to the gym, because how can I pour into others if my cup is empty? The gym is a time for me to just be locked in. It’s so empowering to lift some heavy shit and to hit a PR. Being in nature is another thing I enjoy, because nobody can reach me, literally. I have no signal. I’m locked in with myself and the environment and fully present.
It means dismantling the systems that are currently harming us in so many ways. It means leaning into traditions within our cultures to heal and create the communities we actually want. It’s leaning into plant medicine. It’s leaning into movement. It’s leaning into being in balance with the earth and what that means for me. My poetry, for example, is very real and raw. I call out the way that the system has caged us, the way this country is obsessed with making money off of our incarcerations, mistakes, and situations that they themselves have put us in. It’s a whole cycle. Sometimes it means calling people out with privilege and their inability to push back. Why can’t you be the person making sure other folks are okay at protests? Why aren’t you using your privilege in ways that are backing up the movement?
We did a “July de Jefas” event though La Emprendedora En Mí, in collaboration with Baddies & Banda. We brought together a room full of jefas, Latina entrepreneurs. All of them were at different stages of their entrepreneurship journey. We had a mini market that empowered small business owners and a panel where folks shared their stories. It was a huge networking event, and I got to see what collaboration can get us and where collaboration can lead us. We had so many people donating items to make different aspects of the event happen. It really showed the magic that’s created when people want to pour into you and the opportunities it opens up for all of us. So many collaborations have followed from that event. It’s the beauty of bringing people into the room who share the same vision and want to empower and pour into each other.
Cages are not spaces where people can truly rehabilitate. You don’t rehabilitate in four cement walls. You feel better when you’re out in nature. You feel better when you’re surrounded and embraced by those who love and care for you. So, why are we living in a world where we think that’s healing? Dismantling the system means creating more spaces where we’re nurturing each other and reimagining spaces where we are pouring into each other. And again, we’re human. We make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. Why are we changing the course of people’s lives with one decision? .
We invited local experts to share what they love: a Zumba instructor with more than 25 years of experience, a herbalism knowledge keeper who led a workshop and shared their journey, and a boxing instructor who credits the sport for getting him off the street. More than 20 community members took part in the workshops and left with tools to continue their healing. It’s a clear example of how we cultivate one another and pour back into our community. It’s fostering spaces where we are being treated with dignity, love, and respect that is the intersection.
This poem is called ‘Born Brava.’ I think as Black and brown women, we’re always told we are angry, and we are told that we need to suppress that anger. To me, this poem is about reclaiming the word ‘brava’ to its power and what anger can do. And if it offends anyone, we can talk about it later. Nah. Okay.
Really got them questioning their made-up laws.
Who gave them the authority to create these walls?
They want to tell me words on paper will define my journey.
White man, don’t try to write my story.
I was born to make the ground shake, you see, my steps are earthquakes.
I was born just in time to join the fight.
You see, revolution is in my blood.
I was born brava, but the world sheesh.
The world made me a little more.
I was born to let them know we ain’t puppets in their show until the day we die.
We’re going to shout, “Fuck ICE, abolish cages and fuck their fucking walls.”
We are reclaiming our cultures, healing all the generational pain.
We are no longer letting people who were looking for spices and now don’t use them define our futures.
Hold my hand, join this fight to create a world we’ve all dreamed of, you and I.
Because our communities deserve peace, healing, and the opportunity to dream endlessly, to exist unapologetically.
No more separated families, no more broken childhoods, no more residents, citizens, undocumented, or any more made-up titles.
We are waking up to realize our greatness because our ancestors built temples.
Temples that they want to tell us were built by supernatural forces?
You see the magic that’s in our blood, so powerful.
It got them trying to make us believe that it was made out of this world, but we were born just in time to show them that the magic still lives.
We are that magic.
We are going to make laws crumble walls, too, in community, stepping into our full truth.
Born Brava.
Joy scroll: laughing at a TikTok “bark” trend with wild reactions.
Friends describe her as: a chingona—a risk-taker who turns ideas into action.
Family recipe flex: wedding-size mole from her abuela
• Pura Vida 510
• La Emprendedora En Mí (The Entrepreneur Within Me)