I'm just going to credit Mia McKenzie of Black Girl Dangerous and leave huge chunks of quoted text here, because this article is one of the greatest social justice things that have ever happened to me.
I'm also going to hold myself accountable for my privilege, because I don't do that enough. I am frequently the person who wants a cookie for being an ally. Especially on issues of queer- and trans*phobia, physical ableism, and classism, I could definitely stop talking about all of the "ally" work I've done in the past and instead hold myself accountable for current actions and, quite literally, copy-paste the voices of people ACTUALLY OPPRESSED by the structures I'm talking about rather than providing my privileged two cents. The reason why I'm supposed to tell people I support them in their identity is not to make me feel like a good person—it's to make them feel safe.
And that's probably harsh of me to say about myself. But, like, oppression is harsh, sooo...here's the short version:
I’m kinda over the term “ally["] ... and the constant cookie-seeking of people who just can’t do the right thing unless they are sure they’re gonna get some kind of credit for it[.]
I'm also going to hold myself accountable for my privilege, because I don't do that enough. I am frequently the person who wants a cookie for being an ally. Especially on issues of queer- and trans*phobia, physical ableism, and classism, I could definitely stop talking about all of the "ally" work I've done in the past and instead hold myself accountable for current actions and, quite literally, copy-paste the voices of people ACTUALLY OPPRESSED by the structures I'm talking about rather than providing my privileged two cents. The reason why I'm supposed to tell people I support them in their identity is not to make me feel like a good person—it's to make them feel safe.
And that's probably harsh of me to say about myself. But, like, oppression is harsh, sooo...here's the short version:
I’m kinda over the term “ally["] ... and the constant cookie-seeking of people who just can’t do the right thing unless they are sure they’re gonna get some kind of credit for it[.]
Allyship is ... not supposed to be about you. ... It’s not supposed to be a way of glorifying yourself at the expense of the folks you claim to be an ally to. It’s not supposed to be a performance. ... It’s supposed to be about you doing the following things:
- shutting up and listening
- educating yourself (you could start with the thousands of books and websites that already exist and are chock full of damn near everything anyone needs to know about most systems and practices of oppression)
- when it’s time to talk, not talking over the people you claim to be in solidarity with
- accepting feedback/criticism about how your “allyship” is causing more harm than good without whitesplaining/mansplaining/whateversplaining
- shutting up and listening some more
- supporting groups, projects, orgs, etc. run by and for marginalized people so our voices get to be the loudest on the issues that effect us
- not expecting marginalized people to provide emotional labor for you
...
“Ally” cannot be a label that someone stamps onto you–or, god forbid, that you stamp on to yourself—so you can then go around claiming it as some kind of identity. It’s not an identity. It’s a practice. It’s an active thing that must be done over and over again, in the largest and smallest ways, every day.
Sounds like a lot of work, huh? Sounds exhausting. Well, yeah, it ought to. Because the people who experience racism, misogyny, ableism, queerphobia, transphobia, classism, etc. are exhausted. So, why shouldn’t their “allies” be?
Maybe how exhausted you are is a good measure of how well you’re doing the work.
—The Brilliant Mia McKenzie 
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thoughts? Criticisms?