Do you ever find yourself lost? You don’t know how to advocate with those around you who face discrimination and violence everyday of their lives. You don’t know how to step into the conversation about social change. To fight oppresion you must no longer be a bystander but be an ally.
An ally is a person who wants to fight for the equality of a marginalized group that they’re not a part of. Although, the fight to eliminate oppresion may seem pretty scary and confusing, if you follow these 5 simple steps you will be able to effectively fight against oppression.
1. Understand Your Privilege:
Often time’s privilege is seen through a negative lens. Privilege does not mean you haven’t had difficult experiences or a hard life. However, it does acknowledge that there are something’s that you will never experience or have to think about just because of who you are. By identifying that privilege you not only learn more about yourself, but you learn more about others and their experiences.
2. Listen and Do Your Homework:
As an ally the last thing you want to do is speak over the very people who experience the oppression/violence you are fighting. Sit and listen instead. While listening it is also important to do your own research on the communities you want to support.
3. Speak Up, Not Over:
This goes along with the idea of being a leader by following. You can show support by using your privilege and speaking about these issues with others who do not see the way oppression affects us all. However, one thing to keep in mind is to not speak over the members of the community you are trying to support.
4. It is normal to make mistakes, just remember to apologize when you do:
Living in a society that has deeply ingrained beliefs in our brain, it can be very difficult to unlearn problematic habits. It is uncomfortable and hard however, it is important to lean into that discomfort and take the time to do the hard work to deconstruct those things. You’ll make mistakes along the way but remember it is not about intent it is about impact. It is about what you said and how you offended others. When you get called out remember to listen apologize and commit to changing your behavior.
5. Ally is a verb:
Ally involves action. You have to do numbers 1-4 actively in order to fight oppression. Structual oppresion works in many ways. It can be both active and inactive. As a bystander (inactive) you are allowing oppresion to continue. By just saying you’re an ally doesn’t make you one. You have to be active to fight oppresion!
Being an ally is all about learning. It takes patience and many mistakes but it is an integral part of the fight towards ending oppression. We need all hands on deck to fight the structural violence many people face today. So get up and be an active ally.
Below are some resources to explore to learn more:
How to be an Ally (the main source I used to write this!!) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dg86g-QlM0
So You Call Yourself an Ally…: http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/11/things-allies-need-to-know/
The Angry Eye- Brown Eye-Blue Eye Experiment Part 1 and 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pv8mCHbOrs and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neEVoFODQOE