How to be an ally online

What is an ally? Depending on who you ask, you may receive different responses.

 

My definition of an ‘ally’ is someone who understands and acknowledges privilege, who makes a concerted effort to understand the struggles, inequity, and discrimination people in marginalised groups face, and who joins in that struggle – even if it’s uncomfortable.

 

 

Why it’s important to be an ally

 

Being an ally is about social responsibility. As charity professionals, we work with a diverse range of people. It’s important that every person who needs our support or who wants to support our cause, feels not only included but also reflected in our communications and services.

 

It’s also crucial that charity staff themselves are not discriminated against. Over the last few years there have been many reports of institutional racism in the sector, leading to the formation of Charity so White, whose purpose is to transform the sector into one that is anti-racist.

 

Transformation will not happen without allyship.

 

 

How to be an ally online

 

While there are many ways to show allyship in a physical way, such as attending marches and protests, speaking at events, or attending fundraisers, there are also many ways to be an ally online.

 

 

Understand these five terms and then act

 

One of the most important things you can do as an ally is to educate yourself. It is not the job of people of colour to educate you about racism, or trans people to educate you about transphobia, or disabled people to teach you about inaccessibility.

 

The Harvard Business Review has a great article on five terms you should learn in order to be a better ally. They include the terms ’privilege’ and ‘Benevolent Sexism’ and, as well, as defining what these terms mean, the article includes how to take action.

 

 

Mind your language

 

As Scope highlighted in a Twitter thread, and on their website, on how to be a good ally for disabled people; language matters. “Avoiding ableist words like “lame” or “psycho” can go a long way in making the world more inclusive.”

 

This is true of every type of allyship. Be considerate of pronouns, don’t lump whole groups of ethnicities and different races into one group and try to use gender-neutral language. One way to show your support and normalise the use of pronouns online is by adding them to your email signature, social media accounts, and on Zoom calls.

 

 

Listen, unlearn, and reflect

 

Part of being an ally is listening to uncomfortable truths and unlearning your biases. It can be tempting to respond immediately but it’s important to sit with that discomfort, listen, and reflect.

 

“One of the biggest things I find people don’t often do is take time to listen and reflect. I understand that a lot of people can sometimes feel that they’re being personally attacked but the problem in that is that it shifts focus off the issue and back onto the person. For example – white privilege. People don’t want to think of themselves as privileged, especially if they are struggling. So already they’ve put up a barrier to being an ally because they haven’t taken the time to just read something and reflect on the information. My advice is to take a moment to reflect on something you’ve read before immediately responding. And, if you’ve read something and felt enlightened then share it with others. Lead by example.”

Nana Crawford, social media manager, British Red Cross

 

 

Join or follow relevant sector groups

 

There are lots of groups in the sector who are driving change. Consider joining them or following them to learn more about their work and how you can get involved.

• Charity so White
• Charities Against Hate
• Charity so Straight
• Intercharity LGBT+ Network

 

Use your platform

 

Once you’ve listened and learned, use your online platforms to share what you’ve learned with your followers. Be sure though to reference those you learned from and uplift their voices. Make a list of resources such as people, organisations, books, videos etc that helped you and share that with your followers, colleagues, friends, and family.

 

 

Accept that you won’t always get it right

 

On being a true ally, Crawford believes that, “... true allies can admit when they are wrong. They can admit that they have learning to do and then they take the time to listen”.

 

Being an ally is a continuous learning journey. Sometimes you’ll get things wrong. And that’s ok, as long as your intent is pure, you admit your wrongdoing, and you commit to listening and learning.