What is an Ally?

Someone who helps and supports someone else. (Cambridge.org)
I think we can all get behind that, regardless of our religious or political beliefs.

How do you become an ally? There’s more to it than caring about all races or wanting everyone to be treated equally. To become an ally, you commit to acting on behalf of someone else.

Many are asking what they can do during this time. Danielle Coke created this iconographic and she highlights were to start.

Ask yourself if you are comfortable with each action. If not, dig into that particular aspect. Ask yourself if you are willing to risk saying the wrong thing and having to be corrected or if your comfort matters more to you.

For a very long time I kept my thoughts to myself for fear of looking racist if I misspoke. I could spot racism and inequality but didn’t feel comfortable speaking out. I’m not much of an ally if I won’t address it when I see it. Going back to the bully illustration I used in the intro to this series, seeing the bully beating up a kid but not saying or doing anything to make it stop does absolutely no good.

Commit to spending a few minutes thinking or journaling about each of the images above. Then… start on one of the most important suggestions. Listen:

On the same page where April’s story is located you can find other #IAmABridgeBuilder stories.

Resources:
* Danielle Coke – Instagram – @ohhappydani 
* Be the Bridge

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Previous posts in this series:
Intro: #OnceYouSeeRacism
1. Build your “talking about racism” muscles. – {general racism}
2. The Dangers of the Colorblind Mentality – (color blind mentality}
3. Be Color Brave, Not Color Blind {color blind mentality}
4. See and Honor Color {color blind mentality; “the talk”}
5. You are here… {how to be an ally}