Allyship, especially in service of increasing diversity and making orgs more equitable and inclusive, must anchor to humility
What I mean by this, is it requires you to put your ego aside. Drop your need to be right, actively suppress your desire or inclination to take up space. Think of yourself an instrument, and ask to be led by the marginalized, affected community members
And if you end up arguing with said community about who should be at the forefront, guess what?
Wait - that’s not fair! You’re informed, your passionate about allyship and said community, and just want to make a difference, right?
And if people will be more likely to listen to you vs. the marginalized group, then you’re just doing your part to help, to get people who otherwise would not engage, to engage?
Sorry, I’ve gotten GIF happy here.
Allyship, in practice, often boils down to you leveraging your position and power to claim space for marginalized people. Not proclaiming to speak on behalf of them or solely being a mouthpiece for the issues that impact them.
Allyship, in practice, often boils down to you leveraging your position and power to claim space for marginalized people. Not proclaiming to speak on behalf of them or solely being a mouthpiece for the issues that impact them.
It’s reminding people who has the lived experience and expertise and centering their voices, their ideas, their solutions. Removing blockers so they can proceed through, but not necessarily putting on a cape and saving Gotham all by yourself
Read her post, make some notes, maybe create a mantra you can recite every day from it
