How To Be An Ally 101
Generally in life:
- Get involved in political actions. Be visible through demonstrations and community meetings so others know they are not alone. Bonus impact: you learn that you are not alone.
- Educate yourself and others. It is NOT the responsibility of the oppressed to educate the oppressor. We all have google. Use it.
- “Act from a place where you are not the center.” Find out what oppressed groups need from you and do that. Don’t make decisions for them on their behalf. They know their lives and their needs better than you do – this is not a judgment on your knowledge, just a fact of their life experience. Don’t know what they need? Ask.
In a moment of
confrontation:
- Physically move your body to stand with the person being threatened or harassed.
- Speak to that person to make it clear you are standing with that person. (Ask them if they are okay, or talk to them about the weather – direct your conversation to that person, not to the aggressor)
- If there is violence, physically protect the person if you can. Otherwise, call 911 and/or video record the attack for evidence.
- Stay. Stay to provide testimony. Stay to provide emotional support – as the adrenaline of the situation subsides, other emotions arise.
- Remember the bystander effect: When others are standing idly by, they may be looking for cues from others present about what they should do. The very act of someone doing something makes it more likely that others will act as well. It only takes one person’s action to break the bystander effect. Remember that you can be that person to act.
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