Allyship Resources

Cole Whited - Graduate Student, College Student Services Administration (CSSA), Oregon
State University and Summer 2015 Intern in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Willamette
University.
Special Thanks
In developing the following social justice allyship definition and resource list, meeting with social
justice educators from Willamette University, Oregon State University, and Western Oregon
University was absolutely crucial. I would like to lend a special thanks to Karen Wood, Gordy
Toyama, Cathy Busha, Alison Hobgood, Jackie Balzer, Andrea Hugmeyer, and Larry Roper for
sharing your experiences and knowledge and for your continued support. Wisdom and
advocacy from individuals such as these are key in the creation of socially just communities.
Ally - A Definition
Allies are individuals holding (and benefiting from) privileged identities who are in solidarity with
those that are minoritized, marginalized, and oppressed. These individuals work to become
aware of their own implicit biases and tendencies that may perpetuate systems of oppression
(racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ableism, etc.) in order to break down these systems
with the goal of achieving liberation for all of humanity (Whited, 2015).
Notes on Allyship

Allyship should be considered an unachievable ideal and an aspirational process.

Individuals are advised to avoid self-identifying as allies - as ally is a term that is conferred upon
individuals by those that are minoritized (aspiring ally can be used in its place).
Those working in allyship are not necessarily close or intimate with oppressed groups but share
common goals, allow for a productive/critical distance, and acknowledge differences in identities
and the manifestation of systemic privilege.
The term minoritized is used intentionally to exemplify the fact that individuals are only
considered minorities because of active systems of oppression that minoritize them.
Aspiring allies may use the following resources to begin educating themselves on ways in
which systematic oppression occurs and how individuals with privileged identities can stand in
solidarity with those that are oppressed:

Anti-Racist White Allyship Resources

Youtube - Tim Wise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AMY2Bvxuxc - White Privilege, Racism, White Denial, &

the Cost of Inequality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K1u7sHnNW0 - Matt Heimbach and Jared Taylor Debate
Tim Wise and Michael Dyson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEnFr5JW7hY - Tim Wise: White America does not
understand the racial realities of America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItiXR5m1yAY - White Like Me - Tim Wise (full documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4pIBN2m70U - Tim Wise Speaks On The Negative Effects
of Believing In A White Jesus
Youtube/Other Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_hx30zOi9I - Lacie Green, Is Racism Over yet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxSW7aMirO0 - Cornel West - Obama addressing White
Supremacy
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402524/-This-is-what-black-privilege-looks-like This is What Black Privilge Looks Like.
PBS Docu-mini-series (on Netflix) - African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross - Harvard scholar
Harvey Louis Gates Jr. recounts African-American history in full, exploring a range of cultural,
religious and social perspectives.
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/22/when-a-black-man-and-a-white-woman-speak-foreach-other_n_7638530.html?1435003657=&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063 - What Happens
When A Black Man And A White Woman Speak For Each Other (Slam Poetry - video and short
article).
Blogs/Articles/Websites
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/26/how-white-americans-can-fight-racism - We
need co-conspirators, not allies: how white Americans can fight racism.
http://amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html - Peggy McIntosh - White Privilege: Unpacking the
Invisible Knapsack
http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/
http://occupywallstreet.net/story/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person - Explaining
White Privilege to a Broke White Person
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/what-white-privilege-really-means/?_r=2 - What
White Privilege Really Means
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/what-privilege-really-means/ - What Privilege Really
Means (And Doesnt Mean) To Clear Up Your Doubts Once and For All
Books
Good White People - Shannon Sullivan
Fresh Off the Boat - Eddie Huang (there are issues of misogyny present within this book, but
worth the read).
Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U.S. - Alim and Smitherman
Dog Whistle Politics - Ian haney Lopez
White Kids: Language, Race, and Styles of Youth Identity - Mary Bucholtz
The Everyday Language of White Racism - Jane H. Hill
The Souls of Black Folk - W.E.B. Du Bois
Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English - John Russell Rickford and Russell John Rickford
Gender and Sexual Identity Allyship Resources

Youtube/Other Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmoAX9f6MOc&feature=player_embedded - John Oliver on
Transgender rights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqFkB0LTXV0 - Trans Allyship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn1TC7VEpf4 - One Word: Pronouns (Trans)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFL8yEql-GU - Unconditional love - Journey with our
transgender child : Christy Hegarty at TEDxBloomington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwJRFClybmk - Lacie Green, Why Im a Feminist *gasp*
https://www.youtube.com/user/feministfrequency - Feminist Frequency - youtube channel
devoted to describing the problematic role of patriarchy within gaming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MxCXjfAunk - The ally within: John Dehlin at TEDxUSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U1foLW8h54 - Why am I so gay?: Thomas Lloyd at

TEDxGeorgetown
http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300/lecture-23 - Professor Paul Fry: Lecture 23 - Queer Theory
and Gender Performativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men#t-538112 - TEDTalk - Tony Porter: A call to
men
Documentary - How to Survive a Plague (On Netflix) - Faced with their own mortality, a group of
mostly HIV-positive young people break the mold in taking on Washington and the medical
establishment.
Books
Psychology of Gender - Third Edition - by Vicki S. Helgeson

A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory - by Nikki Sullivan

The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up in a Straight Mans World - by Alan
Downs

Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World - By Cecilia L.
Ridgeway
Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School - by C.J. Pascoe

Blogs/Articles/Websites
http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2015/03/the-genderbread-person-v3/ - The Genderbread
Person 3.0
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/harris/Eng101_QueerDef.pdf - An introduction to queer theory.
http://www.feministcurrent.com/2013/09/10/how-to-be-a-male-feminist-ally/ - How to be a (male)
feminist ally
http://www.alternet.org/11-ways-men-can-be-better-feminist-allies - 11 Ways Men Can Be Better
Feminist Allies
http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/adult-male-lonliness-megasahd/ - Why Do We
Murder the Beautiful Friendships of Boys?

http://www.whiteribbon.org.au/uploads/media/Research_series/Men_speak_up_Flood_2011.pdf
- White Ribbon - Men Speak Up: A toolkit for action in mens daily lives
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/09/trans-partner-lesbian-identity/ - My Partner Came Out As
a Man And I Struggled With Losing My Lesbian Identity
Organizations
http://allyship.org/ - LGBTQ Allyship: Organizing for Social and Economic Justice
http://lavenderwomyn.org/ - Lavender Womyn
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/ - The Trevor Project
http://www.campuspride.org/ - Campus Pride
http://www.hrc.org/ - Human Rights Campaign
Ability Allyship Resources

Youtube/Other Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YCd8TJrZ9Y - ableism using the term differing
ability/differently abled

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1xnyVCBYNQ - Overcoming Ableism: What You Don't

Know As An Able Bodied Person | Naty Rico | TEDxUCIrvine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7_cMziG1Fc - Social Justice Project - Ableism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OijK1d4f4kE - Stop Ableism- L'Arche Kenya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-4Y6CC4m88 - Ableism
Blogs/Articles/Websites
http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/ableist-language-matters/ - 10 Questions About Why
Ableist Language Matters, Answered
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-baumbach/i-have-adhd-my-study-drug-problem-isnt-thesame-as-yours_b_7718532.html - I Have ADHD: My 'Study Drug' Problem Isn't the Same As Yours
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maru-gonzalez/attention-hipsters-ocd-is-not-ajoke_b_7581942.html - Attention Hipsters: OCD Is Not a Joke
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb07/vol64/num05/ConfrontingAbleism.aspx - Confronting Ableism

Books
Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment (Paperback) - By
James Charlton
My Body Politic: A Memoir - By Simi Linton

Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled - By Nancy Mairs

To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities - By Katherine Schneider

General Allyship Resources

Youtube/Other Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHsHhj329T4 - Cornel West on the Laura Flanders Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dg86g-QlM0 - 5 Tips for Being an Ally

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8xJXKYL8pU - Getting Called out: How to Apologize
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KlmvmuxzYE - Students Learn A Powerful Lesson About
Privilege
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBb5TgOXgNY - Unequal Opportunity Race
Blogs/Articles/Websites
http://www.gradientlair.com/post/83558612337/white-conditional-allyship-as-bargaining-chipracism - Whites Who Use Conditional Anti-Racism Allyship As A Bargaining Chip
https://theantioppressionnetwork.wordpress.com/allyship/ - Allyship
http://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/ten-counterproductive-behaviors-of-social-justiceeducators/ - Ten Counterproductive Behaviors of Social Justice Educators
http://diannaeanderson.net/blog/2013/10/im-not-your-ally-the-problem-of-ally-as-identity - im
Not Your Ally: The Problem of Ally-as-Identity.
http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/11/things-allies-need-to-know/ - So You Call Yourself an Ally:
10 Things All Allies Need to Know
http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2014/02/4-ways-push-back-privilege/ - 4 Ways to Push Back
Against Your Privilege
http://blavity.com/taylor-swift-just-exemplified-whats-wrong-with-white-feminism/ - Taylor Swift
just exemplified whats wrong with white feminism
http://allyship.org/ - Being a Good Ally is an Ongoing Process
Books
Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education
(Multicultural Education) - Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo
Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Freire
Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity - Marc
Lamont Hill
Readings for Diversity and Social Justice - Adams, Blumenfeld, Castaeda, Hackman, Peters,
and Ziga
Promoting Diversity and Social Justice: Educating People from Privileged Groups - Diane J.
Goodman