Radical Kinship in Action

Having grown up in the church and gone to multiple Jesuit schools, I have heard the word kinship many times. In college, when I heard this word in a class or at a conference, I thought it was simply a synonym for “solidarity.” I thought of it as standing with marginalized people via service trips or petitions or learning about important justice issues as an ally.

I lived in Belize City with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps for two years after college. It was here that I not only gained a deeper understanding of kinship but got to live and experience kinship in deeper ways. I extended kinship to those around me and was also invited into kinship by our neighbors, originally complete strangers. Proximity became encounter, encounter became relationship, relationship led to community and, ultimately, kinship and family.

At the “Prophetic Communities” conference in May, one of my favorite quotes was: “I am Catholic because I’m an organizer, and I am an organizer because I am Catholic.” It perfectly sums up how I feel about my vocation and what has led me to become a full-time community organizer. Organizing is not just what I

BY ALYSSA PEREZ

do for a living or my job title; it is who I am. It is my way of being in the world. Radical kinship is not just something I talk about, but something I live out in my everyday life. Organizing allows me to put my faith into action, to practice a faith that does justice.

clothe, house, and feed those in need. This is holy work, and I pray that I never lose sight of the sacredness of my vocation.

While community organizing allows me to live out radical kinship in my work life, how am I living out this value in all other aspects of my life—with my family and friends, in my community, and among my coworkers? Am I able to easily build relationships and extend kinship to those I don’t necessarily get along with or agree with? I pray that I continue to take seriously the holy work to which I have been called, and I pray that each person reading this finds how to live out radical kinship in their life.

I currently work in a multi-faith and multi-racial community organizing network, LA Voice. One of the most life-giving experiences I’ve had here has been while working on our Home is Sacred legislative platform. The campaign centers around a legislative package of three housing bills that protect, preserve, and produce affordable housing, and it has truly allowed me to live out the gospel. Home is Sacred— that name is intentional. There are many examples in the gospel that direct us to

Alyssa Perez serves as a community organizer for LA Voice, a multiracial and multifaith organizing network in Los Angeles County. She was a Jesuit Volunteer in Belize City from 2015–2017. She holds degrees in theology and political science from Loyola Marymount University and a masters of nonprofit administration from the University of San Francisco. Having been Jesuit educated for 12 years, she is deeply committed to Ignatian spirituality and building the beloved community.