Allyship is something I see talked about, but not often discussed, and it’s become a pretty important part of my value system, so I want to share my thoughts on it.
In today’s world, I see division as a good thing - when one side is fascist, you want to be on the other - and only want to associate with people who feel the same way, for the survival of yourself and everyone you care about.
So instead of discouraging division, I encourage allyship.
A great example for me is Worcester journalist and advocate John Keough, who has done a lot of great reporting, most recently this piece on Worcester Police Union officials presence at the Motion to Dismiss hearing related to ICE on Eureka street. He’s a good example, because I do not like him (I do trust and respect him, and like what he does, but personally he’s not my people and we disagree on some core ideologies, the feeling is probably mutual). But how I feel about him does not matter. He is working (very hard, with complete integrity) towards very similar things I am, so I appreciate the work he does, since the work he does furthers the work I’m doing and helps the people I am trying to help.
My allies are people whose actions are aligned with mine.
We do not have to like each other, we do not have to respect each other, we do not have to support each other - we just have to be working towards the same things, and not work against each other.
This ideology is important because it helps me recognize who to pay attention to for cues, as well as helps me recognize when people are not actually operating with shared values. It also provides a standing guide to ensure I remain aligned with the people I want to be serving and supporting in my work, without requiring direct feedback or communication.
Progress is often a zipper effect, that happens not because of one or two activists, or even a specific movement, but a lot of small changes falling into place that creates a larger change, and it’s impossible to know where you are in that whole process but important to pay attention to what direction everything is moving - because it’s always moving - so you’re able to keep up, make sure you’re not in the way, and keep moving things forward.
Zipper might be a bad visual, because there’s only two pieces - So think of it as more of a geese formation thing, they rotate out who is in front so that none of them get too tired, and all of them have less wind resistance.
We can’t all be doing everything, we will run out of our own resources, so we do what we can. Learning to recognize and appreciate allies whose work pushes yours forward allows you to relax a little, and get more done using whichever skillsets you bring to the table. It also functions as a form of ongoing self-organization, in a day and age where organizations are disorganized, when communication is inconsistent, access and information are gatekept, and leaders are fundraising instead of leading.