Research Guides: Racial Justice Resources for Activists, Advocates &amp; Allies: Allyship

How to use this guide: Allyship

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Allyship: a few definitions

TO BE AN ALLY IS TO... (amélie lamont)

Take on the struggle as your own.
Transfer the benefits of your privilege to those who lack it.
Amplify voices of the oppressed before your own.
Acknowledge that even though you feel pain, the conversation is not about you.
Stand up, even when you feel scared.
Own your mistakes and de-center yourself.
Understand that your education is up to you and no one else.

What is Allyship, and who is an Ally? Nicole Asong Nfonoyim-Hara, the Director of the Diversity Programs at Mayo Clinic, defines the act of allyship as "when a person of privilege works in solidarity and partnership with a marginalized group of people to help take down the systems that challenge that group's basic rights, equal access, and ability to thrive in our society." I adopt this definition and recognize that allies must also have some degree of power to effect change. An example I like to use when explaining allyship is the occurrence of "mansplaining" in a work environment. Mansplaining is when a man interrupts a speaking woman, explaining the topic from his perspective as if his thoughts are more important than hers. An ally, most likely another man, would step in to stop the mansplaining from happening and allow the woman to finish speaking.

Allyship - The Key To Unlocking The Power Of Diversity An ally is any person that actively promotes and aspires to advance the culture of inclusion through intentional, positive and conscious efforts that benefit people as a whole. Everyone has the ability to be an ally as privilege is intersectional - white women can be actionable allies to people of color, men can be allies to women, cis people can be allies to members of the LGBTQI+ community, able-bodied people can be allies to those with different abilities, economically privileged people can be allies to those who are not and so on.

Allyship web resources

5 Tips For Being An Ally
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Allyship
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CECH Libguide
Allyship - The Key To Unlocking The Power Of Diversity
An ally is any person that actively promotes and aspires to advance the culture of inclusion through intentional, positive and conscious efforts that benefit people as a whole. Everyone has the ability to be an ally as privilege is intersectional - white women can be actionable allies to people of color, men can be allies to women, cis people can be allies to members of the LGBTQI+ community, able-bodied people can be allies to those with different abilities, economically privileged people can be allies to those who are not and so on.
Ally Up! Practice Effective Allyship | Cornell Health
Fact sheet contains recommendations on how to practice effective “allyship.”
Allyship-Take action (NYIT Libguide)
This guide serves as a starting point to learn about anti-oppression, inclusion, and privilege, as well as to provide resources to key social justice issues
Antiracism Toolkit for Allies
This guide is the second in a series of antiracism toolkits for scholarly publishing. The first, the Antiracism Toolkit for Allies, was published in August 2020 and includes an introduction that provides the foundation for this project. The third, the Antiracism Toolkit for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, is forthcoming as of the publication of this guide.
How To Be An Ally For Colleagues Of Color At Work: Three Do’s And Don’ts For Taking Action
In a June 2020 LeanIn.org and SurveyMonkey poll, over 80% of white people polled said they were an ally to colleagues of color; however, relatively few of the Black and Latinx women polled said white colleagues were their strongest allies.
Moving from bystander to upstander: take action to combat harassment and aggression
Participants will receive information and approaches to deal with situations regarding racial and cultural differences, hostility and discrimination towards others in a workplace learning environment.
On Making Black Lives Matter
Black people do not need allies. We need people to stand up and take on the problems borne of oppression as their own, without remove or distance. We need people to do this even if they cannot fully understand what it's like to be oppressed for their race or ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, class, religion, or other marker of identity. We need people to use common sense to figure out how to participate in social justice.
Racial Justice and Allyship Library Guide (Tulane University Libguide)
This guide provides a starting point to learn about anti-oppression, inclusion, and privilege, as well as provide knowledge and resources on key social justice issues.
Save the Tears: White Woman's Guide
If you're a white woman who is watching the world burn because of police murder against Black people, and you don't know what to do, I wrote you a guide.
TO BE AN ALLY IS TO... (amélie lamont)
What is Allyship, and who is an Ally?
Anyone can be an ally and leverage their place of privilege. An ally can serve as a mentor or a voice for someone who doesn't have a voice. An ally can also enhance the culture of inclusion by engaging with their marginalized colleagues and providing support in their daily lived experiences. When marginalized groups feel supported and included, they are more comfortable bringing their whole selves to work and tend to be more engaged and productive, thus creating a more enjoyable environment for everyone.
You 2.0: The Empathy Gym
Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki argues that empathy is like a muscle — it can be strengthened with exercise and it can atrophy when idle. On this episode of Hidden Brain, we talk about calibrating our empathy so we can interact with others more mindfully.

Cultural competence for allies

Bias
Bias is a preference in favor of, or against a person, group of people, or thing. These initial human reactions, which are often unconscious, are rooted in inaccurate information or reason and are potentially harmful. Biases are also part of being human. Once we know and accept we have bias, we can begin to recognize our own patterns of thinking. With awareness and a conscious effort, we have the power to change how we think and to challenge the negative or harmful biases within ourselves.(SI)
How Tone Policing Is Used to Silence Black Women
Tone policing often relies on an argument that a person must be able to address issues in a calm, rational, detached way. Of course, if you are not personally affected by a particular topic, it is much easier to be levelheaded about it. Demanding that others who are personally affected be just as calm as you are is a way to shut down conversation. Being aware of tone policing is the first step in ending this tactic of oppression. You can then speak out against it when you see it — and be conscious to not use it in your own life.
Microaggressions & Racial Gaslighting
Resources to help understand, identify and reduce the harm inflicted by these behaviors.
-"Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. In many cases, these hidden messages may invalidate the group identity or experiential reality of target persons, demean them on a personal or group level, communicate they are lesser human beings, suggest they do not belong with the majority group, threaten and intimidate, or relegate them to inferior status and treatment." (Derald Wing Sue)
-Racial gaslighting (v) The political, social, economic and cultural process that perpetuates and normalizes a white supremacist reality through pathologizing those who resist. Racial spectacle (n) Narratives that obfuscate the existence of a white supremacist state power structure. (Davis & Ernst)
Righteous Anger VS Entitled Anger
Righteous anger is an anger that is rooted in love. It comes to heal, correct, and release anything that is not love. It comes to inform. It is disruptive and direct without apology. It does not seek to take. Heeding your righteous anger is an important initiation that will allow you to discover what was always within you. It will bring you this gift, and then it will ask you to protect it. Righteous anger is a lifelong friend and teacher. It will transform you if you let it.

Male allies

But wait, I’m woke!: The trials of the white male manager
why do you sense that heavy weight on your chest every time the phrase “white man” comes into conversation? It makes you nervous for a bit, but then you remember, you’re right on! You’re a progressive! Best you stick where you are so you can keep doing the good work. You’re making sacrifices, you’re taking one for the team, you have so many reasons to stay…
It’s not about you: how to be a male ally
White men in particular, have been the focus of these calls because they occupy significant positions of power. Other people (especially other men) are more inclined to pay closer attention to demands for gender equality when they are delivered by men. Many men may be willing to help or change for the better, but are unsure of where to start.
Nice White men or social justice allies?:
Using critical race theory to examine how White male faculty and administrators engage in ally work
Nine Tips for Being a Male Ally at Work
To address bias against women at work, and have brave conversations about topics such as equal pay and equitable hiring and promotion, men who hold positions of power—normally white, cisgendered men—need to use their influence, knowledge, and resources to support folks who identify as women, people of color, and marginalized communities. Allyship is important in making sure that everyone is not only invited to the table but is also heard, acknowledged, and recognized for their contributions.
White Guyde To The Galaxy
If you are a white guy and you don't know what to do beyond donate and being quiet, I made you a list.

Allyship podcasts

Active Allyship...it's more than a #hashtag!
Now is the time for honest, unfiltered conversation. For authentic voices and their stories. And for connection. Join Sunni and Lisa as they confront the moment head-on with a podcast that’s as substantive, passionate, and as real as the lives behind the headlines."Active Allyship… it’s more than a #hashtag!" goes beyond the likes, the retweets, and the hashtags, making space for the vital dialogue necessary for racial justice.
Code Switch (NPR Podcast)
a multiracial, multigenerational group of journalists who explore how race affects every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between.
Imperfect Allies
Chris Beasley and Richie Lunsford are two comedians who decided to start having conversations about race in the United States. Sometimes tense, sometimes awkward, never boring, these two discuss their experiences being black and white in a country that has not dealt with it's past.
Leading With Empathy & Allyship Show
real conversations about how we can all be more inclusive leaders in our workplaces and communities. In intimate conversations with advocates, activists, and allies, host Melinda Briana Epler provides a safe space to learn, build empathy for each other, and understand tangible actions we can all take.
Professional Troublemaker with Luvvie Ajayi Jones
Luvvie Ajayi Jones talks with trailblazers who have committed to living life loudly -- with courage and conviction.

Allyship videos

"We must move against not only those forces which dehumanize us from the outside, but also against those oppressive values which we have been forced to take into ourselves."

— Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable | Luvvie Ajayi Jones

Disrupting the status quo can be scary, but sometimes it's necessary to make the world a fairer place. Reclaiming what it means to be a troublemaker, author Luvvie Ajayi Jones shares three questions to ask yourself when tackling fear and standing up for what you believe in -- and urges all of us to speak up in ways that honor ourselves and others.

Allyship books

Anti-Racist Ally by Sophie Williams
Call Number: LANGSAM Cohen HT1521 .W537 2021
ISBN: 9780063081352
Publication Date: 2021-02-16
Join the fight for racially marginalized people with this pocket-sized guide filled with practical insights from one of the leading voices of the movement for equality and founder of the @officialmillennialblack Instagram. As the tragic murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement has demonstrated, not being racist is not enough. To fulfill the American ideal, to ensure that all people are equal, you must be actively anti-racist. In this essential guide, Sophie Williams, goes beyond her popular Instagram @officialmillennialblack, providing sharp, simple, and insightful steps anyone can take to be a better ally in the fight against racism. While the book's focus is on race, it also touches on sexism, classism, ableism, oppression, and white supremacy. Written in her iconic Instagram style, this pocket-sized guide is a crucial starting point for every anti-racist ally, covering complex topics at the heart of anti-racist principles. Whether you are just finding your voice, have made a start but aren't sure what to do next, or want a fresh viewpoint, Anti-Racist Ally introduces and explains the language of change and shows you how to challenge the system, beginning with yourself. Sophie reminds you that this is a learning process, which means facing difficult truths, becoming uncomfortable, and working through the embarrassment and discomfort. The fight for justice isn't easy there aren't any shortcuts or quick wins. But together, anti-racist allies can use their power to truly change the world and lives.
Me and White Supremacy: combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor by Layla F. Saad’s
Call Number: Ebook
ISBN: 9781728209821
Publication Date: 2020
this eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
#HashtagActivism by Sarah J. Jackson; Moya Bailey; Brooke Foucault Welles; Genie Lauren (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9780262356503
Publication Date: 2020-02-14
How marginalized groups use Twitter to advance counter-narratives, preempt political spin, and build diverse networks of dissent. The power of hashtag activism became clear in 2011, when #IranElection served as an organizing tool for Iranians protesting a disputed election and offered a global audience a front-row seat to a nascent revolution. Since then, activists have used a variety of hashtags, including #JusticeForTrayvon, #BlackLivesMatter, #YesAllWomen, and #MeToo to advocate, mobilize, and communicate. In this book, Sarah Jackson, Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles explore how and why Twitter has become an important platform for historically disenfranchised populations, including Black Americans, women, and transgender people. They show how marginalized groups, long excluded from elite media spaces, have used Twitter hashtags to advance counternarratives, preempt political spin, and build diverse networks of dissent. The authors describe how such hashtags as #MeToo, #SurvivorPrivilege, and #WhyIStayed have challenged the conventional understanding of gendered violence; examine the voices and narratives of Black feminism enabled by #FastTailedGirls, #YouOKSis, and #SayHerName; and explore the creation and use of #GirlsLikeUs, a network of transgender women. They investigate the digital signatures of the "new civil rights movement"--the online activism, storytelling, and strategy-building that set the stage for #BlackLivesMatter--and recount the spread of racial justice hashtags after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and other high-profile incidents of killings by police. Finally, they consider hashtag created by allies, including #AllMenCan and #CrimingWhileWhite.
Refusing Racism by Cynthia Stokes Brown; William Ayers (Series edited by); Therese Quinn (Series edited by)
Call Number: LANGSAM Stacks E185.98.A1 B76 2002
ISBN: 080774204X
Publication Date: 2002-04-12
Why and how have whites joined people of color to fight against white supremacy in the United States? What have they risked and what have they gained? For anyone who has wondered about the character, motivations, and contributions of white civil rights activists, Refusing Racism offers rich portraits of four white American activists who have dedicated their lives to the struggle for civil rights. Drawing heavily on interviews and memoirs, this volume offers honest accounts of their thoughts and experiences and shows how their commitments are central to our ongoing history.
Belonging by Sue Unerman; Kathryn Jacob; Mark Edwards
Call Number: CLER Stacks HF5549.5.M5 U54 2020
ISBN: 1472979613
Publication Date: 2020-10-27
A groundbreaking investigation into diversity and equality in the workplace, and a clarion call to the people in power who need to rethink their place in the boardroom and become part of the solution. One in four US workers feels they do not belong at work. Structural racism, the patriarchy of the boardroom, pay disparities are just a few of the obstacles in our workplaces that systematically alienate and repress employees of color, women, LGBTQ workers, and employees with disabilities, but the statistics are clear: companies with diverse management teams report 19 percent higher revenues, and are far more likely to perform above their industry medians. Diversity in business is good foreveryone-so why do women and minorities make up only 34% of boards of Fortune 500 companies? Following interviews at over 200 international businesses about the irrefutable business case for diversity at work, Sue Unerman, Kathryn Jacob and Mark Edwards have discovered one major problem that is holding back the move towards greater diversity: where are all the white men? The book sets out to understand why more men aren't engaged with D&I initiatives in organizations--at one extreme they may be feeling actively hostile, and threatened by the changing cultural landscape. Others may be unmotivated to change: they may see diversity as a good thing in the abstract but can't see what's in it for them. Many will be open-minded and supportive, while still feeling unsure about what to do. Through their research and case studies, the authors provide a blueprint to dismantling the corporate patriarchal alpha environment of the boardroom. They offer actionable advice to promote progress, including: - how to launch effective diversity initiatives without laying responsibility for their success at the door of disadvantaged groups - how to build a more agile and engaged workforce by promoting healthy disagreement - and how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable as hard conversations and necessary changes take place. The time for change is long past.Belonging ?is the call to action we need today--the tool to turn the men in power into allies as we battle discrimination, harassment, pay gaps, and structural racism and patriarchy at every level of the workplace. The lessons in this book will help us work together to build a better workplace where everyone feels they belong.
Mothers of massive resistance: white women and the politics of white supremacy by Elizabeth Gillespie McRae
ISBN: 9780190271725
Publication Date: 2017
They are often seen in photos of crowds in the mid-century South--white women shooting down blacks with looks of pure hatred. Yet it is the male white supremacists who have been the focus of the literature on white resistance to Civil Rights. This groundbreaking first book recovers the daily workers who upheld the system of segregation and Jim Crow for so long--white women. Every day in rural communities, in university towns, and in New South cities, white women performed a myriad of duties that upheld white over black. These politics, like a well-tended garden, required careful planning, daily observing, constant weeding, fertilizing, and periodic poisoning. They held essay contests, decided on the racial identity of their neighbors, canvassed communities for votes, inculcated racist sentiments in their children, fought for segregation in their schools, and wrote column after column publicizing threats to their Jim Crow world. Without white women, white supremacist politics could not have shaped local, regional, and national politics the way it did, and the long civil rights movement would not have been so long. This book is organized around four key figures--Nell Battle Lewis, Florence Sillers Ogden, Mary Dawson Cain, and Cornelia Dabney Tucker--whose political work, publications, and private correspondence offer a window onto the broad and massive network of women across the South and the nation who populate this story. Placing white women's political work from the 1920s to the 1970s at the center, this book demonstrates the diverse ways white women sustained twentieth century campaigns for white supremacist politics, continuing well beyond federal legislation outlawing segregation, and draws attention to the role of women in grassroots politics of the 20th century.
Power, Race, and Higher Education by Kakali Bhattacharya; Norman K. Gillen
ISBN: 9789463007351
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Power, Race, and Higher Education is a parallel narrative written by two scholars. Kakali Bhattacharya, who is a South Asian woman who immigrated to the United States and Kent Gillen who is a White man and who focuses on completing his doctoral studies under Kakali's supervision. Embedded in the dilemmas are implications for cross-cultural qualitative research, understanding of how whiteness functions, and how we attend to our deepest wounds as we work to become allies and build bridges.