"Leaning In" as Imperfect Allies in Community Work

Abstract

The work of allies in community work is informed by justice-doing and decolonizing practice. A brief description of being an ally is outlined here, as well as understandings of the importance of the concepts of fluidity and groundless solidarity in ally work. "Leaning in" is described and offered as a way to invite accountability while resisting righteousness. "Leaning in" invites collective accountability, which is a more useful concept than personal responsibility, which sides with individualism and the idea we are only held accountable for our personal actions. Strategies for being an ally are considered, including engaging with a hopeful skepticism while reflexively questioning whether we are "walking the talk." The limitations of allies are discussed, as well as the need to make repair for our failures as allies. Strategies for resisting both unity and division are addressed, as is the possibility of creating cultures of critique that allow for something other than attack and division. Imperfect solidarity based on points of connection is offered as a useful strategy for maintaining good-enough and required alliances across time. Finally, some exercises are offered for readers to engage with: an inquiry into their histories and imperfect practices of being and needing allies, and some invitations to step into domains where they have previously not served as allies. Keywordsally, community work, leaning in, power, privilege, fluidity, imperfect solidarity Authors' NoteThis work is profoundly collaborative and owes much to a diversity of activists who have been in imperfect solidarity with me across time. Graeme Sampson and Sherry Simon, practicum graduate students from the Adler School of Professional Psychology, critiqued the ally exercises and contributed to their usefulness. Thanks to WAVAW for allowing me to reproduce a version of "Story from the 20 Bus," which originally appeared in their newsletter. Sid Chow Tan, Andrew Larcombe, Paka Ka Liu, Aaron Munro, Tod Augusta-Scott, Jeff Smith, Allan Wade, and John Winslade offered generative and expansive critiques that improved this work. Mr. Peaslee helped again.

Hiring, training, and supporting Peer Research Associates: Operationalizing community-based research principles within epidemiological studies by, with, and for women living with HIV

“…Consistent with our reflection that HIV status may not be the most dominant social identity upon which participants might relate to PRAs and feel safe during the interview, we hired HIV-negative women working in ASOs who identified as Indigenous and trans, and who practiced allyship to women living with HIV. Through team discussions, we considered allyship to be an active practice, rather than a static identity, consistent with the definitions forwarded by other scholars on allyship [42].…”

The Creation and Recreation of Borderlands Among Indigenous Peoples

“…However, they must be integrated with actions involving processes of indigenizing, revitalizing, restoring, and protecting in concrete material ways the lands, homes, schools, native agriculture, and local economy. Resilience scholars can play an important role in calling for the mobilization of accountability from the dwellers of the modern world to take responsibility and extend their respectful support for a way of life to be solely determined by the Kamentza people (Reynolds, 2013).…”

Invitations to dignity and well-being: cultural safety through Indigenous pedagogy, witnessing and giving back!

“…the avoiding of euphemisms that conceal violence) and the ways collective positive social responses can assist people in their recovery from violence. As community therapist and educator Vikki Reynolds demonstrates, two very different stories can be delineated: the story of violence belongs to the oppressor or colonizer while the victim’s story is one of resistance and responses to that violence (Reynolds, 2014, 2013, 2010; Richardson & Reynolds, 2014). This delineation can help people shed the guilt and shame that are made to accompany victimhood in our society—understanding that the violence was undeserved and not their fault.…”