“Allies Who Are Not Allies”: Blogs You Should Read

Through this series of notes, I will share links of Blog posts and/or websites I’ve found that I see as being too great to keep to myself.

These resources will come from a variety of areas of service and interests, with the common theme being a focus on issues related to diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice.

Some of them will be websites that I regularly look to for information and inspiration for my own personal growth, advocacy, and professional development, while others will be resources that I may have just discovered and want to get the word out.

Today’s Note highlights the blog post “Allies Who Are Not Allies” from the blog Eponymous Fliponymous.

The Link

http://fliponymous.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/allies-who-are-not-allies/

Why I like it

Reading this always reminds me of the importance of listening, and I find the experience shared here to be one of the most clearly written examples of what not to do that I’ve ever had the opportunity to come across. I often use this story as an example for myself and  for others in my own work.

A sample (or posts) from the site that I’ve read, and think you should too.

Title: “Allies Who Are Not Allies“.

“There are always things floating on the web that serve to call out people who think they are Allies, who proclaim themselves Allies, but who don’t actually help. Who actually make things worse. If you are an Ally who is helping, this story will not bother you. If you are the other kind, it’s probably going to annoy you quite a bit.

This is a true story. The events happened as I have written them here. This has not been tweaked to make the metaphor better.

Ten or more years ago, I was driving towards one of the most dangerous intersections in the state (according to the Department of Transportation! No shoulder, extremely busy, tons of semis and people not paying attention to what they are doing). My station wagon abruptly died. I had no cash on me, and about $40 in the bank that had to last for two weeks no matter what — I could not spend it on anything but the things it was budgeted for.

So there was a guy walking across the intersection, and he asked if I needed help. I said, yes, please, we need to push the car around the corner and about half a block to a parking lot where I could figure out what I was going to do. He said “Sure, I’ll help.”
He started trying to flag down cars. I said “What are you doing?” He said “I’ll see if someone has a cell phone so they can call you a tow truck.”

“I have a cell phone,” I said. “I can’t afford a tow truck. I just need to get me and my car out of this intersection.”

He ignored me, and proceeded to flag down a semi….”

Continue Reading Allies Who Are Not Allies…

Ubuntu,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins, MSW

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