Drivers for Change – Practice Allyship
Equity Framework > Drivers for Change > Practice Allyship
Allyship is an ongoing process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with individuals and groups of people.
It includes practicing acts of support and solidarity with equity-deserving groups, whether you belong to or identify with the group or not. Allyship is recognized by the people we seek to ally ourselves with, it is not self-defined. Practicing allyship does not make one immune to criticism. When we make mistakes, it is important to listen and learn, be accountable, and take appropriate action.
Adapted from:
Definition comes from the Anti-Oppression Network and Peer Net BC. Retrieved from:
https://theantioppressionnetwork.com/allyship/
Further Reading / Additional Resources:
- McGuire-Adams, T. (2021). Settler allies are made, not self-proclaimed: Unsettling conversations for non-Indigenous researchers and educators involved in Indigenous health. Health Education Journal, 80(7), 761-772. This article aims to identify ways of working towards disrupting settler colonialism and addressing racism in all of its manifestations by building settler allyship and adopting an anti-racist lens within the field of Indigenous health. The article describes how to approach building settler allyship by implementing anti-racist acts. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/00178969211009269
- Diversity Includes Disability. Be an Ally. 2023. Available from: https://accessibility.cornell.edu/diversity-includes-disability/be-an-ally/
- Peer Net BC/The Anti-Oppression Network. 2016. Allyship. The Anti-Oppression Network describes roles and responsibilities of working in allyship. Available from: https://theantioppressionnetwork.com/allyship/
Sample Tools:
Toronto For All is a public education initiative to generate dialogue among Toronto residents. The campaign supports building knowledge and skills to identify, question and challenge systemic barriers through a multi-staged conversational approach. https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/get-involved/community/toronto-for-all/
The Social Diversity for Children Foundation has prepared this article to provide guidance on showing solidarity with individuals with disabilities. Social Diversity for Children Foundation. (2020). 10 Ways YOU can be a Disability Ally. Retrieved from: https://www.socialdiversity.org/updates/00n8u4gcgi02vu7x2xgsvsbbvj6y79
Youth Research & Evaluation eXchange (YouthREX). (2019). How You Can Be an Ally in Working Against Anti-Black Racism. Toronto, ON. YouthREX has prepared this fact sheet entitled How You Can Be an Ally in Working Against Anti-Black Racism. The factsheet was developed from “Anti-Racist Praxis with Street-Involved African Canadian Youth” by Julian Hasford, Peter Amponsah & Treisha Hylton, in Mental Health and Addiction Interventions for Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Practical Strategies for Front-Line Providers (Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press, 2018) – outlines actions you can take to be an ally in working against anti-Black racism. Available from:
https://youthrex.com/factsheet/how-you-can-be-an-ally-in-working-against-anti-black-racism/
Egale. Tips on how to practice 2SLGBTQI Allyship. Egale has prepared Tips on how to practice LGBTQI2S allyship as well as Responding with Allyship.
https://egale.ca/awareness/tips-on-how-to-practice-lgbtqi2s-allyship/