Tips For Your Journey to Allyship
- Jun 19, 2020
- 2 min read
For all our new White allies, know this journey is never ending & we want you know we welcome you to the fight. Keep in mind the following tips on this journey...
New Ally Tip 1: Do not ask your Black friends 1,001 Questions!
Our hearts are heavy and when you approach us with the same questions they can trigger trauma. Do research on your own, you'll know about google, right? Look up books, documentaries, movies, that can help educate you to be a better ally for the cause. Here are a few links to get you started....
New Ally Tip 2: Constantly Check your Privilege!
It's not just about you educating yourself on your privilege but understanding when your privilege comes into play and how you can use it to help those that our system is designed to keep oppressed. Step up and use your voice to speak out on injustices and systematic oppression when you see it- this is using your "privilege for good".
New Ally Tip 3: Be careful how you choose to share your new found education
Looking to strike conversations with your Black co-workers over a new documentary you just watched is not helpful to the cause sis. Doing that is just as damaging as the "my best friend is black" statements. Check you microaggressions at the door! If you are unsure and want to learn more about microaggressions start here.
New Ally Tip 4: To be an Advocate you must LISTEN with an open mind.
To advocate for us and inform others focus on learning and listening, stay away from language that questions the narrative. Our stories vary but share the same darkness of oppression, listen with an open heart and mind. You are going to learn things that may lead to change in the mindset of your past which can be uncomfortable, but that is a good thing.
New Ally Tip 5: Being an Ally doesn't make you one of us...
We are excited you are here, but that does not mean you can speak for us or our experience. While you are advocating know that black people do not need you to explain their culture or history- explain your own! How your ancestors created a system that puts Black people at a disadvantage in every facet of their life. After the viral video of young white women trying to challenge their parents ignorant beliefs, Sonya Renee Taylor said it best....
"She is challenging the ideas of her parents on the bodies of Black people, ... It is time to turn the conversations toward you white people, to turn the conversation toward what whiteness has wrought in this world and how you excavate it from yourself so that we might all survive."
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