So you call yourself an ally
For the allies of the Black community, you must say something and do something if you genuinely are an ally. I am not saying that you have to post on social media or a lengthy written statement or be at every protest. But have you said or done anything?
When I say have you said anything, I mean, have you checked on your “Black friend” that many of you claim to have? Have you texted your Black coworker who you have shared a cubicle wall with for the last few years? Have you posted on social media about your disgust at how the Black community is being treated? Or have you just been silent? I genuinely hope you have not been silent because your silence is killing my community. I have heard from many that they just don’t know what to say and don’t want to make a mistake. But I personally, and I know many others who would agree, would rather say something and it is not quite right than you to say nothing. Say something, so I know where you truly stand on this issue. Say something, so I know someone cares. Say something because, honestly, at this point, I don’t have words anymore. Say something, so I know who I should also expect actions from.
Now that you have said something, what are you going to do? Though reading books are a great start, the books you read won’t keep cops from killing me or anyone else who looks like me and get off scot-free. Have those hard conversations that scare you because they confirm that you have been at some level complicit in my community’s oppression. Write letters and call governors and mayors to change their policies to invest in my community instead of policing it. Do anything, so I know that you didn’t just post on Twitter or Instagram for theoretical social clout because my life is not a moment or a trend. It is real. For those of you, all realizing the ivory tower that you work in every day isn’t as ivory for your Black colleagues, do something. Take a stand for your colleagues. Speak their name and accomplishments in rooms that they will never get to be in. Questions systems that seem to keep them from promotions. As to why all the Black employees are either executive assistants or receptionists.
Remember, ally is a verb more than a noun. To be an ally is to take action by saying something and doing something. At best, you are a performative ally, and that is honestly more dangerous. Without those two actions, you are no ally of mine. So what are you saying and what are you doing?
