being an ally. talking point 12

* I just want to say this piece was my favorite piece we read all semester.  Although it was a short and easy read I thought it was really powerful and raised a lot of important points.


As I was reading through this piece I sat back and was like, I don't think I've ever actually thought of myself as an ally before this class.  For a while I was always like "well, I think I am but, I'm not really sure and I don't know blah blah..."  let me explain--I mean sure it drives me f***** bananas when people use the phrase "that's so gay" or "that's so retarded" or when people make racist jokes or fat jokes or gender jokes or any type of discriminating jokes.  I'm the first to stop someone mid sentence or mid action when I see bullying or harassment or any type of situation where one person is making another feel uncomfortable.  I have no problem taking on the challenge of defeating oppression so if all that is what makes a person an ally...then I guess all my wondering can be over!

I kept relating this piece back to something I had heard last year at an event during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week... one of the speakers at the event kept saying throughout her speech that she was in recovery and was now a voice for those couldn't find theirs or maybe, unfortunately no longer had one.
>I thought of an ally as kind of being like that...a voice for someone else.  When it comes down to it, everyone knows somebody who needs an ally.

My favorite part of this whole piece was the Jesse Jackson quote:
"When a critical mass of white people join together, rise up, and shout a thunderous NO to racism, we  will actually alter the course of history."
it actually made me stop & stare at the paper and just kind of smile to myself.  In my head I was like how awesome is that, right on.

I also thought the point "we are all dominant and targeted simultaneously" couldn't have been any more true.  She used the example of a white able-bodied man--who, based on that is seen as dominant in those categories but yet can be targeted for being Jewish or gay.  I love how she pointed how that even if a person is dominant in every aspect of their life, they won't be forever! (I found that pretty clever :p)



**I thought this was an awesome piece to end the semester with & I'm really sad this class is over.  BUT I can't wait to take your class again in the spring!  I feel like this class really opened my eyes and changed my perception about a few things--definitely for the better!