We spoke with the Executive Director of Faith in New Jersey, Charlene Walker, for this month's Member Spotlight. 

What is Faith in New Jersey?

Faith in New Jersey (FINJ) is a power-building vehicle for people of faith and shared values across New Jersey. Every single person has power and it's our job to help people walk in it and build collective power. When we do that, we end up with thousands of people across the state who can move and think independently, so that together, we can transform the world based on our shared values. 

People believe that we organize faith leaders, which we do, but really, we organize the entire faith community and help them organize the broader community around them. All of our congregations get access to a community organizer who trains, develops, and pushes people to strategize, listen to each other, and build a deeper community. That community is then able to decide what it’s going to fight for.

What are the “shared values” of Faith in New Jersey?

We believe that all liberation is through Black liberation. We know that the most marginalized Black bodies will have additional barriers, no matter what the issue is, we ask ourselves: how is the most marginalized Black individual impacted by it? If we don’t do that, Black folks will get left out. If we do, every single person will become free. 

We believe that faith unites us more than it divides us and that if you study faith and spiritual traditions, there are so many similarities. We all believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. That means we have to fight for that.

We believe that we're supposed to love thy neighbor. Especially when you're looking at immigration right now, what does it mean to love thy neighbor? It means you stand up for people. It means that you welcome folks with open arms, and you fix systems that are designed to create harm or profit. 

Finally, we believe that we all are interconnected. We don't believe in allyship. We don't want allies here. People get shocked by this. What we want is to organize with co-conspirators. A co-conspirator is a person who understands that their liberation is tied to everyone else's. An ally shows up to say, "Hey, I want to do some good things," but because they do not see themselves as needing liberation, they are like fair-weather friends. We develop people to move from allyship to actually being co-conspirators. It’s hard, but that's part of being in a struggle together: getting people to have that level of understanding.

To bring the conversation to this current moment, what is Faith in New Jersey doing to fight against the rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy?

We're focusing on building local power: doing the Know Your Rights trainings, passing the Immigrant Trust Act – which is the most important piece of legislation to protect people against this federal administration's wishes. We're also trying to build belonging across the state. I think that the only way we inoculate ourselves from it getting worse is by leaning into belonging to one another, which only faith communities can do.

This month, you began a Know Your Rights Train-the-Trainers workshop series for faith communities. Tell us about that: what was the need you saw, and how did the training address it?

I think that there's a myth as to what immigration looks like. Immigration is a Black issue. Most people don't realize that, because the media paints a certain picture of who an immigrant is and isn’t, but actually, one in five Black people is part of the immigrant community. That means that ICE is going to predominantly target Black communities.

That’s why every last congregation should be trained to Know Your Rights, whether or not it has immigrant members. Even the person who feels that they are safe themselves could inadvertently expose a loved one to the immigration system. So, everyone needs to know their rights when it comes to immigration, but it's also broader because it’s about policing as well.

What we’re doing with the Train-the-Trainers is helping congregations become safe spaces. We’re telling folks: ICE does not have the free reign of your congregation. That means setting up congregations physically to become safe spaces, but also teaching folks to embody the things that they’re learning. We all know that as soon as we see somebody in law enforcement, many of us get nervous, we get scared, and things go out the window. Our trainings provide an opportunity for congregations to practice asserting their rights; we’re not just giving them information. Another important component is helping people put together both congregational plans and family plans. Family plans should be for everyone, not just immigrant communities. Finally, it’s about putting together community safety plans. We have to build safe communities, not just safe congregations. That means we put people within a community in a room together, so that they can come up with a community plan, too. 

To sum it up, it's congregational plans and congregational safety, and it’s making sure that everyday people know their rights, whether they have come from another country or are originally from the US.

What do you want immigrants in the Faith in New Jersey community to know right now?

That you are beloved. That even when it feels as though there are people who wish you to die, that wish you to flee, to hide — we love you. We support you. We are one and we are interconnected as a universal family. That means we fight for each other.

As Faith in New Jersey, if it means that there are days that I have to sit in a cage, I will, because your life is important just as much as the next person's.