In our last post, we broke down the concepts of ally, accomplice, and co-conspirator. Here, we are going to dig into allyship a bit more.
For many of us, we're still working to feel confident in ally work. We might feel ourselves recoil at the idea of "accomplices" and "co-conspirators" because it feels unattainable or like the work we have already done isn't valuable. It's okay to have those feelings, but rest assured that this work, like everything else, is not about an end point; we will always have room for growth. When we feel disheartened, we can look back at where we were, feel pride in how far we've come, and use that energy to propel ourselves forward. Think of being an ally as a strong foundation. Now we can build atop it. Colorado Virtual Library provides a great overview of allyship. This article was published in 2021, and as we know things change quickly. However, this is still a wonderful starting place. Some highlights: On intersectionality: "The key takeaway is remembering that our positions of privilege and marginalization are fluid—they are heavily situational (and intersectional), and some people overall may experience more marginalization than privilege, or vice versa." On systemic oppression: " The goal may be to consciously exclude another identity or it may happen subconsciously, as a result of inequitable policies or norms. Societal institutions are then created around those power structures and the marginalization becomes normalized in the culture as 'how society works.'" On allyship: "an active, consistent, and arduous practice of unlearning and re-evaluating, in which a person in a position of privilege and power seeks to operate in solidarity with a marginalized group.” Abbreviated do/don't list:
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This is the first of many posts sharing our thoughts and experiences in working through the White Supremacy Culture article by Tema Okun. In our first discussion (February), the resonant consensus was that we are all perfectionists. We pride ourselves on it. We glory in it. "My greatest weakness? I'm a perfectionist. Ugh, isn't it just awful? Everything has to be just right or I just can't handle it." So then, why is being a perfectionist a Bad Thing?
Perfectionism sets us up for failure. Perfectionism stops us from taking risks. It dissuades us from looking outside ourselves for other ideas and feedback. It rationalizes. It criticizes. It chastises. It's not just a quest for the unattainable; it is a crippling fear of not being enough. Perfectionism tells us that our value is somehow outside of ourselves. It tells us that there is one, single ideal to which we must all strive. When we all work towards this unreachable, unfathomable, uniform ideal, we lose the richness of experience and perspective which makes us actually successful. Perfectionism is one facet of the complex systems we accept as standard, but it's not immobile. What feelings come up when you think about your own perfectionism? How does that feeling resonate in your body? What is an action you can take to break down your own perfectionism? Perfectionism will come up a lot in future topics, so we felt it was the perfect place to start. Now go mess something up today! (We're just kidding. Sort of.) |
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