The Emerald Summer 2020 | Page 227

HOW TO BE AN TRUE ALLY, We are in the midst of social justice and change. There are many ways to help out and simply be an ally to the positive changes we as a community are building. In many different ways, we are each an ally at one point in time; an ally chooses to stand up for marginalized communities by taking action for what is right. Here are some ways we can be allies. L I S T E N : L i s t e n t o w h a t m a r g i n a l i z e d p e o p l e a r e s a y i n g – f a c e - t o - f a c e , o n y o u r s o c i a l m e d i a f e e d o r i n t h e a r t i c l e s y o u r e a d . I t ’ s n o t a b o u t y o u , y o u r f e e l i n g s o r o p i n i o n s ; i t ’ s a b o u t h e a r i n g t h e i r s . G E T E D U C A T E D : C h e c k o u t r e s o u r c e s l o c a l l y a n d o n l i n e . L e a r n f r o m w h a t y o u a r e r e s e a r c h i n g a n d k n o w t h a t y o u c a n a l w a y s a d d m o r e k n o w l e d g e t o y o u r m i n d b a n k . G E T I N V O L V E D : J o i n l o c a l g r o u p s w o r k i n g f o r s o c i a l j u s t i c e . S u b s c r i b e t o t h e i r e - m a i l l i s t s , f o l l o w t h e m o n s o c i a l m e d i a a n d s h o w u p t o s u p p o r t t h e i r w o r k . I N T E R V E N E : W h e n s o m e o n e i s b e i n g t a r g e t e d – p h y s i c a l l y o r v e r b a l l y – i n t e r v e n e o n l y w i t h t h e i r p e r m i s s i o n . F o c u s o n s u p p o r t i n g t h e m r a t h e r t h a n e n g a g i n g t h e a g g r e s s o r . 2 2 7 S P E A K U P : N e v e r b e a f r a i d t o v o i c e y o u r o p i n i o n . Y o u h a v e e v e r y r i g h t t o s p e a k y o u r t h o u g h t s a n d e n g a g e i n a t h o u g h t f u l m a n n e r .