In the context of social justice, an ally is someone in one social group who stands with and takes action to support people in another social group with the goal of ending oppression and gaining equality; usually someone in a dominant group supports member(s) of a marginalized group who are being treated unjustly.
Allies understand that they are not a part of the oppressed communities they support but continuously makes an effort to understand this struggle every day. Allies take on this struggle as their own, even if they will never be able to fully comprehend it. Allies recognize the privilege they have and use it alongside oppressed voices to fight the oppression by amplifying oppressed voices first. Allies take the responsibility of educating themselves and learning the skills to be an ally - and continuously practices these skills. Allies stand up even in moments of fear. Allies reflect on their own prejudices and contributions to systems of oppression. Allies own up to their mistakes and knows that it is not about them. Allies take action for interpersonal, societal, systemic, and institutional change.
Explore this open source website on being an ally
Reflect on your own biases and privileges in regards to the community you want to be an ally to before joining them
Question your motivations on wanting to be an ally
Educate yourself and do not expect marginalized people to do the work by explaining it to you
Complete this worksheet linked below and set some goals
Read about traps and pitfalls to being an ally you should avoid on pages 20-21 in the document linked below
Remember that it is not about you!
Continue to check your own implicit biases and privileges - being an ally takes on-going work/reflection and is a process, not a destination
Reflect on how you contribute to systems of oppression
Continue to educate yourself surrounding challenges, barriers, policies, and histories affecting the marginalized community you want to be an ally to
Keep the conversation going and be curious - never think that you know the whole story or the solution
Be open to criticism and own up to your mistakes - we are all learning and unlearning
Watch your language and speak up when you hear others using language that continues to marginalize communities
Challenge stereotypes and the Story society wants you to believe
Challenge the systems and policies in place that perpetuate the oppression of marginalized groups
Be willing to give up some of your "like-ability" in the social groups you fall into (e.g. social class)
Just because you have educated yourself, do not think that you know more about the situation of marginalized groups than the people in the marginalized groups
Just because you have educated yourself, do not think that you have learned everything that there is to learn - there is always more
Do not think that you have become an ally like the work is done - it is never done
Do not compare your struggle to a marginalized person's like they are comparable
Do not consult people in marginalized communities and then disregard everything they said - do not tokenize them
Do not speak louder or more than people in the marginalized community like you know what is best - you don't
Do not speak for people in marginalized communities like you know what they need - you don't
Do not think that you have all the answers and therefore can swoop in and save marginalized communities - do not have a saviour mentality
Do not make people in poverty justify their situation
Do not believe in/perpetuate stereotypes or believe that one person represents the whole community - do not generalize
Do not believe that every person in a marginalized community feels suppressed
Header photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Aurora Institute: Deep Poverty, Deep Learning, and Being an Ally https://aurora-institute.org/cw_post/deep-poverty-deeper-learning-and-being-an-ally/
Swanson, J. (2001) What poor people say about poor-bashing in Poor-bashing: The politics of exclusion.
Swanson, J. (2001) Challenging poor-bashing within and around us in Poor-Bashing: The politics of exclusion.
OPSEU: What does it mean to be an ally https://opseu.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/what_does_it_mean_to_be_an_ally.pdf
Guide to Allyship https://guidetoallyship.com/