The Bordelons are fighting for their lives in Queen Sugar season 5 trailer

"We've been through more storms than most folks will ever see, but we still here."

The Bordelon family has weathered storms both metaphorical and physical, and more are on the horizon in the upcoming fifth season of OWN's Queen Sugar, as seen in EW's exclusive trailer for the drama (below).

As the Bordelons continue to take on the wealthy and powerful (read: privileged) Landry family from stealing the land of Black farmers, a deadly pandemic and wave of protests against police brutality and racism add to the fight they mount. And much of that wasn't even supposed to be part of season 5, which was already filming when COVID-19 started spreading and forced productions to shut down. That, plus the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police, and more prompted executive producer Ava DuVernay to overhaul the season to incorporate how real-life is impacting Americans — and specifically, Black communities — on an intimate level.

"The historic events of 2020 impact the Bordelons in direct and very personal ways, from the pandemic and income instability to the election and George Floyd's murder," DuVernay explains to EW. "Each character actively confronts these issues both separately and as a family."

The Bordelon siblings — Nova (Rutina Wesley), Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), and Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) — also have their own personal battles to contend with: Nova is still trying to repair her relationship with her family following the release of her controversial book, and launches a new website to support her community, while also moving forward in her relationship with Calvin. Ralph Angel and Darla (Bianca Lawson) have reconnected and are committed to making things work for them and Blue, and Ralph Angel is determined to keep his late father's farm in the family, where it belongs. Charley — having just won a seat as St. Jo councilwoman, beating Jacob Landry and then taking down his conniving mom, Frances — does everything she can to protect her community and local farmers in her new position, while possibly meeting her match in Parker Campbell (How to Get Away With Murder's Amirah Vann), the long-lost daughter of Sam Landry, who runs community relations for the parent company of the fracking company that's building a highway through St. Jo's. Twist! (Witness the shock on Charley's face in their fiery first scene together, in the season 4 finale.)

"Dawn-Lyen is a very special actor and it's a joy to match her with just about anyone. She always makes magic," DuVernay says. "But there's a unique chemistry that she shares with Amirah as Parker that's pretty irresistible. Tensions are sparked between these two dynamos in the very first episode of the season."

The new season of Queen Sugar (which was just renewed for season 6) kicks off Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on OWN.

Related content:

• Ava DuVernay on how she's using her influence to amplify marginalized voices in Hollywood
• Ava DuVernay, Arrow EP developing a series about DC's Naomi at the CW
• Rosario Dawson, Ava DuVernay team up for DMZ comic adaptation on HBO Max