Allyship
What is an ally?
"we have often used the concept of ‘allies’ to refer to people that do not belong to the group undertaking action, but rather to that of the oppressor, to the dominant class, or at least to a more privileged part of society." (Fanouria Giannaki, 2016)
When talking about the idea of allyship, I find it helpful to think about 3 key ideas:
In-group vs. out-group
in-group = members of any particular community
out-group = non-members
Where you are personally situated in terms of privilege & life experience to different communities (Melaku et al., 2020)
You need to reflect of why you wish to act as an ally to a particular community, and how you feel it is ethical and appropriate to do so.
"Finally and perhaps most importantly, it is vital for allies to abandon any selfish motives or ambitions to stand out as leaders before going to the field." (Fanouria Giannaki, 2016)
What is the role of an ally?
Learn
from scholarship by the community
What is the history of that community, as shared by its members themselves?
Remember that any research done or perspectives shared by non-members will always come with bias, and may not be historically accurate.
The truth of the horrors of the Canadian residential school system only becoming known to most non-Indigenous Canadians in the summer of 2021 (CBC News, 2021), with (re)discovery of the bodies of thousands of children who were murdered in these institutions is just one example of this. Always think about who has authored the work you are learning from, and cast a wide net when looking for learning resources.
Prioritize knowledge shared by in-group members, but be mindful about asking friends or acquaintances to share their own experiences with you, especially if they may be painful. Remember that nobody owes you their story or has the responsibility to educate you. Focus on ways you can learn on your own, or with other out-group members (which can be a great way to build community)!
listen attentively if others (especially Elders) share their past experiences or traditional knowledge with you; this is a gift
read news articles
read/listen to books
watch documentaries/videos
visit museums, learning centres, exhibits, installations or websites created by community members
Listen
to members of the community
What are the experiences of community members, right now?
Remember that people are unique, as are their experiences - so no one member of a community can speak for the whole community. Immerse yourself in many voices and perspectives of community members as you can, in as many ways as you can!
follow members of the community on social media
listen to podcasts
read books/listen to audiobooks (I really like listening to books narrated by the author themselves)!
watch tv shows and movies made by and starring members of the community
listen to music or check out art made by community members
Check yourself first
and call others in
In my experience, as you get deeper into learning more about a community that is not your own, it can be very easy to fall into the trap of calling other people "out" when they act in ways that are harmful.
I think this is itself a harmful behaviour we all sometimes engage in, and I am no exception.
To try to keep the mindset of "calling others in", I personally find it helpful to remind myself that everyone is doing the best job they can with the knowledge that they have, and also to remember there is no such thing as a perfect ally. You will always do unintentional harm. Being an ally is committing to a process of continuous learning and unlearning. Some questions I regularly ask myself:
am I engaging in deficit-thinking about members of this community? (people are capable!)
am I engaging in "saviour" thinking? (which only reinforces unjust power dynamics)
how will I work to more gracefully receive feedback when I get it wrong? (in a way that is guided by the IQ values of inuuqatigiitsiarniq & pijitsirniq)
without reacting defensively or refocussing on my feelings
with an open heart and a growth mindset. I find the work of white academic/storyteller/ally Brené Brown a good anchor/accessible place to start to work through a lot of the hard feelings that can arise as allies working to uncover and address our own biases and problematic behaviours.
Amplify
share sources that have helped your learning
Strive to share the work of community members directly, rather than your interpretation of their work.
When sharing your thoughts as a member of the out-group, make sure to clearly state your position in relation to the community - this lets others evaluate biases you may bring. Always credit the original people and work who helped you learn.
Think of creative ways you can share information with other out-group members in your own networks of connection.
(creating this website is one of the ways I am trying to do this)!
Support & advocate with
in ways that are welcome
"It is crucial for an ally to understand that a movement belongs to those that are directly harmed from inequality and that, as Adazadeh Shashahani pointed out, ‘change has to come from the bottom up’. In other words, it is the oppressed that should speak and act for themselves in their pursuit of justice and liberation". (Fanouria Giannaki, 2016)
Does this community want your help?
How do you know?
are you supporting in the ways community members are asking for? No idea? Try asking specific questions like, "how can I help?", or "what does support look like/feel like to you?"
Being an Ally in Nunavut
The following brochure is from the Government of Nunavut, and can be found here.
Intersectionality
Allyship can be very complex, as beautifully illustrated in this talk Anubha Momin gave in Iqaluit in 2017.
On facing guilt...
Remember: having privilege, and/or benefitting from systemic injustice isn't your fault
In the context of my work, I share resources from, and specifics about my personal journey of allyship as it relates to 3 specific communities relevant to my life:
the Autistic/neurodivergent/disability community
I am autistic (recently diagnosed)
Autism is both a type of neurodivergence, as well as a developmental disability
I have been lucky to provide support to many students over the last decade who impressed on me the urgent need to make our school a safer place for queer students
Through our work together, I have gained the knowledge, vocabulary, and the feeling of safety to understand that I am not just an ally, but am queer myself.
My community of Cambridge Bay (and Nunavut, more broadly), as a settler teacher working in service to youth in an Inuit community/territory
I commit to preferencing work and methodologies from Inuinnait, Inuit and Indigenous communities in my own scholarship
I also commit to sharing resources with others that have been invaluable to me as I learn more about decolonizing education & decolonizing research.
As part of my work for my winter semester courses, I created an allyship website to share some of the resources I have found most helpful so that others who would like to also act as allies to these 3 communities can benefit from resources that have helped me.
We all have blind spots based on our own identity and privilege. If engaging with my work brings up uncomfortable feelings for you, please know that these are feelings I deal with too! You can check out my blog if you want to know more about how I try to contextualize these hard feelings as I process them.
Please know that nothing I share is ever meant to make you (or anyone) feel bad. However, I cannot ethically call myself an ally without calling attention to, and working to address systemic issues I see and feel as I move through this work.
That said, I acknowledge that I am myself an imperfect ally; I have done, and will continue to do harm to communities I care about because of my own blind spots. When this happens, I:
listen and believe others who let me know I have hurt them
even if I don't fully understand how or why they feel that way
take ownership & apologize
ask questions and do research to learn how to do better (a continual process)
take concrete action (with a focus on restitution/repairing relationships)
share my own missteps transparently in ways that can help others learn from my ignorance/mistakes/poor behaviour.
BUT ... with the goal of education and action.
because the last thing the world needs more of is entitled white women's tears! ;)
A word to my fellow white women:
Crying is healthy, & sharing hard feelings with people you trust (and in therapy) is awesome; I would never discourage you (or anyone) from sharing.
BUT... there is a history of white women, in particular, weaponizing their tears in ways that can result in imprisonment, serious violence, & even death, especially for Black men & other people of colour. For this reason, it is particularly necessary for us to learn more & carefully reflect on that history & the power dynamics at play when others let us know we have behaved poorly/harmfully.
References
CBC News. (2021, June 4). . CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-residential-schools-kamloops-faq-1.6051632
Fanouria Giannaki, A. (2016). The Role of “Privileged” Allies in the Struggle for Social Justice. In John Lewis Fellows Reflective Essays 2016. Humanity in Action. https://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledge_detail/jlf-16-the-role-of-privileged-allies-in-the-struggle-for-social-justice/
Government of Nunavut (n.d). You are a friend of Nunavut [Brochure]. Government of Nunavut. https://www.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/ally_brochure_rev07_withedits.pdf
Hatcher, A., Bartlett, C., Marshall, A., & Marshall, M. (2009). Two-Eyed Seeing in the Classroom Environment: Concepts, Approaches, and Challenges. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 9(3), 141–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/14926150903118342
Melaku, T. M., Beeman, A., Smith, D. G., & Johnson, W. B. (2020, November 1). Be a Better Ally. . https://hbr.org/2020/11/be-a-better-ally
Meltzer, M. (2019, September 11). “I refuse to listen to white women cry”: How Rachel Cargle built a business by calling out racial injustices within feminism. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/09/11/feature/how-activist-rachel-cargle-built-a-business-by-calling-out-racial-injustices-within-feminism/
Phipps, A. (2021). White tears, white rage: Victimhood and (as) violence in mainstream feminism. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 24(1), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549420985852
SLAP BANG. (2019, November 13). Entitled White Women’s Tears | Commercial [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uCvOkro9iM