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Ally 101: How to be a better ally
The document provides a guide on being an effective ally to marginalized groups, emphasizing the importance of education, recognizing one’s privilege, and knowing when to support or step back. It stresses that impact is more important than intent and encourages commitment to change when mistakes are made. Additionally, it offers resources related to diversity, inclusion, and allyship in the workplace.
Ally 101: How to be a better ally
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- 8. someone who wantsto help fight for the equality of a marginalized group of people
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- 12. What else canwe do?
- 13. 1. Educate yourself📚 🍎 Do your part! Read up on the issues that the people you’re trying to support are facing. Remember to listen!
- 18. 2. Recognize yourown privilege There’s that word again! Try to notice how your privileges play out on a regular basis. You can’t work on it if you don’t know where it’s at!
- 20. 3. Know whento step back! Allies are there to support, not lead! Use your privilege to amplify the voices of folks who are already doing the work, and to create space for others.
- 23. 4. Know whento step up! There are times where you can use your privilege to help create space for others and call-out injustice where you see it.
- 28. 5. Remember, it’sabout impact not intent Everyone slips up and makes mistakes! Even if you meant well, doesn’t mean what you said or did wasn’t hurtful. If someone calls you out, apologize, commit to changing, and learn from it.
- 31. What are someways this ties into diversity & inclusion at work?
- 32. • five tipsfor being an ally • ten things allies need to know • resources for LGBT allies • giving up ableist language • white privilege explained • why allies are essential • cracking the codes documentary Resources & references
Editor's Notes
- #2 thx for coming! we’ll be looking at what it means to be an ally, why allies are super important, and some ways to get started
- #3 Ground rules — tough stuff, but ask questions; get comfortable with being uncomfortable; also I’m not an expert but have some experience with this stuff. also this is gonna be pretty general and won’t cover everything because time!
- #4 privilege is not an easy thing to talk about. people often get defensive when privilege is brought up — but having privilege does not mean you haven’t worked hard, or haven’t struggled to get to where you’re at. it just means there are some things you don’t have to worry about because of your identity, that other people do. everyone has some privileges and doesn’t have other privileges, for example i identify as queer and as cis woman, which means my gender identity matches up with my genetics, XX.
- #5 my partner identifies as trans, and has faced a lot of things that i’ll never have to worry about, like going into a bathroom and being harassed or yelled at, or having to worry about how his identity might affect his employment. these are things that if i wanted to, i could ignore completely. but part of being a good ally is being empathetic to how the trans community is affected, educating myself about issues he faces, and doing what i can to support.
- #6 Living with no privilege is a lot like playing life on nightmare-mode — twice as many harmful things can potentially affect you and you’re less equipped to deal with it. If you’re playing at an easier level, maybe you get more health points or less chances to run into bad guys — it’s still hard though. But the thing is with privilege, you don’t get to choose what level you’re playing at.
- #7 play white priv colbert clip. don’t feel guilty! guilt is a useless emotion. learn what you can do about it instead. (http://fusion.net/story/256983/black-lives-matter-deray-mckesson-stephen-colbert-white-privilege/ at 5:12) from techinclusion: we all are part of the problem in some way, but we can actively choose to be part of the solution.
- #8 okay so let’s talk about what it means to be an ally, like colbert
- #9 first off what’s an ally? An ally is someone who is not a ‘member’ of a group of people facing discrimination, and yet they support and advocate for the people of that group. the other important thing to remember is that you can’t just say you’re an ally and call it a day, you have to put in the work to earn it.
- #10 putting in the work is hard, but remember, choosing to do it is the first step in dismantling privilege. you have to remember that it’s not about you, it’s about others.
- #11 also, when there are systems of oppression in place, they affect everyone in ways you may not realize. reinforcing gender stereotypes creates cultures where men are restricted as well, just in different ways. everyone can be a feminist!
- #12 discussion — take a few min to think about someone who’s been a good ally to you
- #13 White board / post it activity —
- #14 1. education — it’s not the role of the folks who are already oppressed and dealing with stuff to be educating everyone else about what’s going on. do your part and read some articles, blogs, books, stories about the group you’re trying to support. luckily, the internet makes this really really easy.
- #15 if you want to get started learning about what it’s like for people of color and dealing with police violence, read blogs like http://www.colorlines.com/ or mic, and look into http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/ http://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision and http://blacklivesmatter.com/
- #16 art by http://www.micahbazant.com/ — to learn more about trans issues look for a safe zone training, or read books by leslie feinberg (trans liberation, trans warriors),
- #17 If you want to support women, read http://everydayfeminism.com/ , https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedVideo/videos/1917439058396967/ http://www.robot-hugs.com/ and a million other resources http://www.codedocumentary.com/
- #18 learn about the impact that language has — why using certain words shapes the way society and cultures see certain groups of people. how this plays out in media etc. http://www.stopableism.org/what.asp http://alliedcommunityresources.org/
- #19 2. your privilege — we all have it! recognize how it affects things: try to notice what it’s like in a meeting, or in conversations. noticing where you may be taking up space is the first step to being able to share that space with others.
- #20 i’m sure you’ve seen these signs around the city, this applies to everything!! if you’re in a place of privilege and see something go down, be an active bystander and speak up or show support.
- #21 3. role — know when to step back!
- #22 give credit where it’s due, don’t take the spotlight in these things, and take a back seat if you don’t have first hand experience — recognize where
- #23 play spoken word thing
- #24 4. role — know when to step up and take action!
- #25 http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/01/asian-americans-tackle-anti-black-racism/ - personally, i know it’s really hard trying to bring up issues within my family in a way that’s not disrespectful but is also productive. this was a super good resource on how to connect the issues that my family may have faced to make it more relatable, so they can understand how racism affects everyone differently. i know personally my family would never think that incarceration, sex trafficking, or immigration issues affect us but the truth is asians make up a big percentage of ppl affected by those issues too.
- #26 Use your voice! Use your privilege to create space and stand for those who are oppressed
- #28 watch grocery video about an awesome way someone can use their privilege to step up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTvU7uUgjUI
- #29 impact vs intent — even if you mean well, doesn’t mean you won’t slip up. it’s okay but acknowledge it and learn from it.
- #30 as a great man once said, we are fallible and temporary. don’t worry about it, but learn and move on.
- #32 discussion and things to think about