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 trainings. Awareness of injustices; racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and ableism (to name a few) is, of course, the first step toward advocacy, but awareness alone is not enough to dismantle systems of oppression. To be an Ally requires that a person not simply notice an injustice, but also take action by bringing attention to the injustice and requesting that it be corrected. It is important to note here that Allies are not defined by the assignment of the term; one cannot simply declare themselves an Ally because they believe in justice. Allies are defined by their actions. In other words, the question to ask one’s self is not am I an Ally, but rather, how have I advocated for or supported marginalized people or communities today? Yes, “today” is critical to the assessment of one’s allyship, for the systems of injustice do not take days off and the work of allies must be just as steadfast. Being an ally is a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people and it means learning from and listening to marginalized groups, empowering them, advocating for them, and looking inward to recognize your own bias and privilege
