Anti-Racism Resources - Allyship Edition

Photo of a crossword game board spelling out the following: Trans, Nonbinary, Disabled, Allyship, LGBTQIA, BIPOC, Fat.

Compiled by Darliene Howell

Each month, we will be featuring educational resources on the NAAFA Community Voices Blog. Some resources will be historic information about systemic racism. Others will be resources on doing the internal work of understanding ourselves and how we play a part in that system. There will also be actions that can be taken to directly oppose racism. This month, we focus on being an Ally.

Allyship

Guide to Allyship by amélie lamont

An open source starter guide to help you become a more thoughtful and effective ally. Guidetoallyship.com

A very hands-on way to be an ally is in financial support of the labor of BIPOC individuals. To show support for this guide, buy Amélie a cup of tea.

8 Ways to Be a (Better) Ally from Syracuse University

Good guide to use as a jumping off point in learning to be a better ally. news.syr.edu/the-peel/2020/10/14/8-ways-to-be-a-better-ally/

How to Be an Ally (for Educators) by Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance)

Any educator can become an ally, but the journey might look different depending on one’s identity, experience and familiarity with issues of power and privilege.  learningforjustice.org/magazine/spring-2018/how-to-be-an-ally

There are many underrepresented groups that need your support. The basics of allyship may be similar for each but take a look more specifically at each group to understand what they want from you as an ally.  Here are links to some articles/guides by community:

BIPOC

LGBT

Trans and Nonbinary

Disability Community

Fat Community

Fat Community is Intersectional

Videos

Be an Ally - A TED Talk by Melinda Epier

3 ways to be a BETTER Ally in the Workplace edi.nih.gov/blog/communities/be-ally

For more ways to learn about supporting underrepresented communities and to be a better ally, check out the Anti-Racism Resources page on the NAAFA website, the monthly column in the NAAFA Newsletter or on the NAAFA Community Voice Blog.

Portrait of Darliene Howell, an older Caucasian woman with short white hair, wearing glasses.

Darliene Howell (she/her) - Administrative Director for NAAFA. Darliene has worked directly with NAAFA since her retirement in 2004; first as the recording secretary to the Board of Directors in 2007, then elected as the Chair of the Board and Administrative Director in 2015. She has been active in fat community 20+ years.