10 Becoming an ally: Strategies
Strategies to develop your literacy
- When looking for sources of information, pay attention to who is telling the story. Prioritize content created by persons belonging to the marginalized groups you are learning about.
- Engage with different types of content: books and academic articles, videos and podcasts, popular press and social media, etc.
- Learn in community! When possible, take advantage of learning opportunities such as talks and panel discussions organized and/or featuring members of the communities you are learning about.
Strategies to build relationships
- Show up to events organized by the community for whom you want to become an ally.
- When you show up to events and community spaces, be humble and aware of how much space, resources, and attention you are taking and find ways to be helpful, such as signing up as a volunteer. For instance, if you work at University of Manitoba (UM), a great way of building relationships with members of the UM Indigenous community is to sign up as a volunteer for the Annual Traditional Graduation Pow Wow and make yourself available for the least “glamorous” roles (such as assisting with set up and tear down), which are often harder to fill.
- Take ownership of your positionality and institutional power: don’t expect individuals and groups to automatically trust you and see you as an ally. Developing meaningful relationships will take a consistent investment of your time and effort.
Strategies to practice reflection
- Integrate reflection into literacy development: schedule time to think and debrief on the things you are learning.
- Find or create spaces for group reflection: join a community of practice, online community, or other type of group where you can talk about your experience of becoming an ally and listen to others.
- As you develop meaningful and reciprocal relationships with members of marginalized communities, be on the lookout for indirect feedback and be receptive to direct feedback about the impact of your words, actions, and choices.
