Introducing Ally Week
White background. Block letters outlined in blue read: NAAFA ALLY WEEK 2022. Text over the logo of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance reads: Jan 24-29. Blue script reads: Exploring what allyship means to fat community. To check out the calendar of events and to register, so to naafa.org/allyweek
by Tigress Osborn, NAAFA Board Chair
Editorial note: This piece has been updated from the original piece in the NAAFA newsletter to reflect recent community dialogues about one of our Ally Week events. Click here to see the Board of Directors’ Accountability Statement in response to that dialogue.
Each year, dictionary.com adds new words and chooses one word as the Word of the Year. In 2021, for the first time ever, the site’s annual pick was also one of the new words: allyship. There are many ways to define allyship, and this is how dictionary.com defines it:
allyship (noun): the status or role of a person who advocates and actively works for the inclusion of a marginalized or politicized group in all areas of society, not as a member of that group but in solidarity with its struggle and point of view and under its leadership.
Coincidentally, NAAFA also spent the end of last year thinking about the meaning of allyship. Back when we were planning Fat Liberation Month, then-volunteer and now new board member, Trevor Kezon, suggested the idea of setting aside some time outside of FLM to focus on how people can be better allies to fat people. Plus, for the past few years, we’ve been trying to help NAAFA community to better understand intersectionality, to recognize how privilege and marginalization impact what fat people face in the world in addition to anti-fatness, and to be in solidarity with other marginalized communities. We knew we wanted to create programming that would address both aspects of allyship–being supportive and being supported. We were in the midst of discussions and planning when dictionary.com announced their Word of the Year choice.
Our 2022 Ally Week explores the meaning of allyship in fat community– how others show up for us and how we show up for others. We know thin people have a lot to learn about how to be allies to fat folx; we also know that fat folx with other privilege have a lot to learn about how to center marginalized people in fat community and how to show up as allies for other oppressed groups. NAAFA volunteers, guest speakers, special bloggers, and others have worked together to create programming about being allies; how we invest our time, energy, and money; and more. We’ve also added a Restorative Practices Workshop.
All events are free. Most are open to everyone, but our Fat Fridays Virtual Social Club is an affinity space limited to fat people. If you don’t understand why, our Intro to Allyship workshop will include discussion of safe spaces and why sometimes not showing up is an important part of allyship.
Visit naafa.org/allyweek for the schedule of events, workshop descriptions, and registration. And stay tuned for more workshops and blogs about the meaning of allyship and fat community throughout the year!
Pic is of Tigress Osborn, a smiling young Black womxn with shoulder-length curly dark brown hair, a multi-colored top and wearing black-rimmed glasses in a room with the NAAFA logo in the background.
Tigress Osborn (she/her) is the NAAFA Board Chair. Tigress joined the NAAFA Board of Directors in 2015 and became Director of Community Outreach in 2017. She is the founder of Full Figure Entertainment in Oakland, CA and co-founder, with activist/blogger Nicholet Deschine Parkhurst of Redstreak Girl, of PHX Fat Force in Phoenix, AZ. Her professional background as a youth advocate, diversity educator, and equity and inclusion consultant informs the fat liberation activism she has engaged in since 2008.