How to be an Ally: #NotOnMyWatch

i want to continue this series on trying to figure out as white people, how we can be better allies to our friends of colour and i guess people of colour in general. i would LOVE to have more of you contributing pieces to this series, so if you have an idea please get hold of me.

This is similar to the ‘Just say No’ post i did a while back, but i also want to take it a little bit further.

How to be an Ally: On being a non-black Ally in Africa. [Guest Post: Alexa Matthews]

Continuing with the conversation about ‘How to be an Ally’ with my friend Alexa Matthews who has a huge heart for this kind of thing and the humility to understand that we are trying to figure it out as we go along:

I have sat with this for a little while – and was hoping to send it off before leaving South Africa for a holiday. I am still wrestling with whether I as a non-black person should be writing this. Simply as part of me knows that this is something that some days I get horribly wrong rather than just right.

Being an ally, for me, doesn’t mean simply choosing to mindlessly go along with the loudest voices shouting about what is happening in the black community – that is not being an ally.

It’s about being willing to listen, hear and acknowledge that on my own, or only surrounded by people who think like me I have an incomplete story or picture of what is happening in our country and being willing to hear why people think the way that they do – whether it is the same or different to me.

How to be an Ally: Intro

When i was looking for an image to reflect the idea of becoming an Ally i found this poster and really liked it. Because the question that i am wrestling with at the moment is just that: How to Be a Better Ally, specifically when it comes to matters of Race.

And possibly one of the biggest pieces of this puzzle is that the answer should not have to come from people of colour.