We know better than to wait for systems built on white supremacy to save us. Our communities are powerful, our hope is defiant, and our resolution is clear. When systems fail, we rise together.
We Got Us: Stories of Faith, Justice and Collective Hope invites you to look around your neighborhood and see the stories of restoration that happen through people who follow the Jesus who took on flesh, came into our neighborhood, and is present in the current struggle.
Below, Chasing Justice podcast producer Roslyn M. Hernández shares how these stories have impacted her over the last year and how we hope they will impact the rest of our community as we rebuild a just world together.
We Got Us is a truth that has kept us.
Friends, my name is Roslyn M. Hernández, and I’m the Podcast Producer at Chasing Justice. As we begin the year, many of our communities, and many of us as individuals, are navigating exhaustion, grief, and uncertainty. And while some systems have failed us, others are actively weaponized against us.
Since January 7, 2025, I have found myself overwhelmed by fear, anger, and grief for my family, community members, and myself as ICE began racially profiling and kidnapping people from the streets, agricultural fields, and homes where I live in California. Since then, the violence against our democracy, our immigrant communities, and even our children continues to be perpetuated across our country.
And yet, again and again, I see communities, families, and neighbors choosing care, solidarity, and courage anyway.
I feel our hearts cry out for and with our neighbors.
I see our people showing up for one another.
I hear our actions proclaim “We Got Us!”
This is why I can’t wait to share this podcast season with you.
I have been incredibly humbled and honored to be trusted with these stories, I’ve been encouraged and challenged, I’ve grieved and been comforted; I’ve been changed.
Talking with Jamal Bakr and Pastor Phil Jackson from The Firehouse Community Arts Center reminded me that community transformation is faithful and relational: driven by people who know their calling because they found the thing that makes them come alive.
Hearing from leaders and neighbors connected to Lawndale Christian Community Church and New Life Church about their long-term commitment to justice in their communities has restored my hope for the Church in our country.
My conversations with Black and Brown leaders in North and South Lawndale about cultivating solidarity across racial differences reminded me that unity is built on deep trusting friendships, inner work, mutuality, and courage.
But the reflections two young girls shared with me about immigration lay heavy in my heart, my body, and my soul. They remind me that We Got Us doesn’t bypass lament. We Got Us holds us, especially when we feel exhausted and broken.
As you listen, I hope you hear echoes of your own community. I hope you feel less alone. And I hope you’re reminded that even now, in the midst of chaos, fear, and despair, our communities are practicing love and courage. We are not giving up!
In these stories, we see the struggle, hard work, and hope that moved our ancestors to fight against the same injustices and fascism we face today.
They remind us that good neighbors are good news to the people around them; that we are the nourishment of our own flourishing. They remind us that the life-giving practices we need to be people of God’s Kin-dom are available to every one of us.
So join us. Listen to We Got Us stories unfold through our podcast. Encounter reflections and encouragement on our blog and social media. Bop to music that carries memory and resistance. And interact with Chasing Justice’s first zine! It’s a creative resilience tool that is still in production, built to root us in mutual hope through art, memory, and spiritual practices.
But more importantly, join us in collective action. Be a leader, a friend, and a neighbor who embodies the ethos of We Got Us, the ethos of our gospel hope.
We Got Us emboldens us to refuse to face injustices alone.
We Got Us means choosing active solidarity over individual conformity.
We Got Us remembers that collective flourishing has always been our work.
We Got Us means we walk together toward healing, justice, and love that sustains all of us.
It’s not just something we say, it’s something we can all practice.
(Yes… ALL of us. This means even those of us who are all in to help others, but find it harder to be vulnerable and ask for help. Say it with me, “We and Us includes ME.”)
We’ve said it in the past, and we’ll say it again— we got us and we got you!
— Roslyn
Roslyn M Hernández creates resources for the spiritual formation and empowerment of emerging generations through her work as Project Manager at the Fuller Youth Institute and Podcast Producer at Chasing Justice. As a Contributor at Think Christian, her thought-provoking articles and conversations bridge the gap between faith and pop culture. Roslyn is also a Spiritual Director, Public Theologian, and Podcaster providing space for Indigenizing, holy listening, discernment, and healing.
The views and opinions expressed on the Chasing Justice Blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Chasing Justice. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.
