Being an Ally For Black History Month
What does it mean to be an ally? We use the term often as an Affirming Congregation.
In social justice work, the term ally is often defined as a noun; a person who uses their privilege to advocate on behalf of someone else who doesn't hold that same privilege. Allyship is one of the first action-oriented tools one learns in social justice and bias training.
The first step in being an ally is to recognize that good intention are not enough. You can
approach a task with the best of intentions, with all the goodwill you can muster, and be
completely off target and even hurtful. Without realizing it.
Actions are important. But, the first action should be dialogue.
Often allies rally around the phrases like “I don’t care that you are....” Or “I don’t see that you are...”. These types of sentiments feel good to the person saying them but for the marginalized person, you are saying that you don’t see them at all. You are saying that you don’t see their pain, you don’t see their struggles, you don’t see their needs. And this is not what an ally is trying to communicate.
And that is the goal: Communication!
Black History Month calls us into a new relationship with the Black Diaspora. We are called to listen and learn, to stop and revisit, to make real changes in the world around us.
For the month of February, we will be honouring Black History Month. The colors for this month are black, red, yellow and green. Black is the noble color of African skin. Red represents the bloodshed fighting for freedom from slavery, racism, and colonialism. Green symbolizes the luxurious vegetation and extensive natural resources of the African continent... Yellow symbolizes the sun and justice, hope, and equality.
The banners this month call us to “Take Action Against Injustice”. The quilted banner reminds us of those who helped people escape slavery along the Underground Railway by using quilts as a way to send messages. The symbol on the green banner reminds us of the African Diaspora and calls us to action to reverse the harm done. The yellow banner with the Button Jar image reminds us that all displaced peoples carry with them memories and traditions and a history that we hope to be asked to share with them.
This year we started off looking at how universal the messages of all the major religions are: “Love your neighbor as yourself” and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. We have learned to recognize how to look for opportunities to achieve Justice not just offer Charity and the importance and responsibilities of living in Community.
As an Affirming Congregation learning to be allies, may we take these lessons and apply them to all peoples and all situations.