Allyship has quickly become one of the hottest terms in 2020. Against the stark backdrop of riots, protests, and plagues; what does allyship look like? What can you do to reach out to a friend or family member in need of an ally?
The first step to allyship is educating yourself and those around you about the different identities and lived experiences of marginalized communities. Being an ally is expressed on a spectrum. Some express their allyship by joining activist movements, while for others, it is acknowledging their privilege and listening to marginalized communities’ thoughts and feelings. Being an ally involves taking the time to understand and care about the issues that may or may not affect you directly, but mean the world to others.
Definition of allyship: an active, consistent, and arduous practice of unlearning and re-evaluating, in which a person in a position of privilege and power seeks to operate in solidarity with a marginalized group.
- Allyship is not an identity—it is a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people.
- Allyship is not self-defined—our work and our efforts must be recognized by the people we seek to ally ourselves with.
- It is important to be intentional in how we frame the work we do,
i.e. we are showing support for…, we are showing our commitment to ending [a system of oppression] by…, we are using our privilege to help by… - For more info, visit https://theantioppressionnetwork.com/allyship/
- It is important to be intentional in how we frame the work we do,
Resources
#Blacklivesmatter toolkit
https://blacklivesmatter.com/resource-category/toolkits/
Diversity & Inclusion Resource Hub- Find tons of valuable resources and tools to help educate your organization on EDI
https://diversity.hrtechgroup.com/resources
3 Ways to Be a Better Ally in the Workplace
https://www.ted.com/talks/melinda_epler_3_ways_to_be_a_better_ally_in_the_workplace
10 minutes a day to be a better ally – Justice for June
Implicit Bias doesn’t change your mind but here is what works
Microaggressions
https://www.vox.com/2015/2/16/8031073/what-are-microaggressions
Conversation Ground Rules
https://www.catalyst.org/research/conversation-ground-rules/
Effective Communication for LGBTQ2+ Inclusion
https://onboardca.com/effective-communication-for-lgbtq2-inclusion/
Inclusive Language
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/inclusive-language
What can organizations do to be anti-racist?
https://bcorporation.net/anti-racism-resources
5 books for Systemic Racism that leaders can learn from
How to Support Black-Owned Small Businesses
https://www.finimpact.com/blacklivesmatter-support-black-owned-small-businesses/
UN Women Mentorship Guide–
Mentoring is an effective and increasingly popular way for private sector companies to promote women’s training and professional development, to support the implementation of Women’s Empowerment Principle 4 and to drive positive organizational culture change. This manual was developed based on international best practices, the practical experiences of UN Women and the Creative Development Center with our Founder/CEO Manpreet Dhillion as a consultant.
Webinars on racism, race relations and multiculturalism in Canada–
https://www.crrf-fcrr.ca/en/programs/webinars
he Canadian Race Relations Foundation offers an array of webinar recordings to help educate yourself and your organization manoeuvre topics of race in the workplace.
EDI Resources for the Canadian real estate industry-
https://www.realpac.ca/page/EDIResources
REALPAC offers resources for those in the real estate industry around EDI, the Black Lives Matter movement, Gender, LGBTQ+, Indigenous People and much more!
Anti-racist and solidarity-
https://solidarities.huafoundation.org/
The Hua Foundation offers resources on anti racism, activism, building resilient communities and land acknowledgements.
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