> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# From empire to earth community: Casa de Paz
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/from-empire-to-earth-community-casa-de-paz/
- Published: 2014-09-02T09:09:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T00:23:56.000Z
- Description: In the Fruitvale district of East Oakland, California, 36th Avenue is the turf of three major gangs. Yet the residents of Casa de Paz never lock their doors. (Video 6 minutes)
- Author: Michael Edwards
- Tags: Politics & activism, #Migrated, peace, street gangs, Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Society, activism, transformative nonviolence, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 16:53, #appended-excerpt

Anchored by Pancho Ramos Stierle and Adelaja Simon, Casa de Paz (“House of Peace”) is part of a group of homes that form an intentional community of peace and nonviolence in an area rife with structural and physical violence. Their goal is nothing less than a “total revolution of the human spirit” to support the transition from “empire to earth community.”

*A film by* [*Michelle Moore*](https://vimeo.com/user13912830?ref=opendemocracy.net)*.*

Read more about [Pancho Ramos Stierle](http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=127&ref=opendemocracy.net), now known worldwide as one of the men arrested for meditating to reduce the growing tension between police and protesters during Occupy Oakland.

Casa de Paz is part of the Canticle Farm community. Learn more about the founders, their philosophy, and the practices that anchor the community [here](http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/making-peace-inner-city-oakland-one-block-time?ref=opendemocracy.net).

This video first appeared on [Karmatube](http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=4616&ref=opendemocracy.net) and is re-posted here with permission.

In the Fruitvale district of East Oakland, California, 36th Avenue is the turf of three major gangs. Yet the residents of Casa de Paz never lock their doors. *(Video 6 minutes)*