What Is Allyship?

If you feel angry and frustrated about how marginalized groups are treated, you might wonder how to make a difference. Someone may have suggested you engage in allyship—but what is allyship, and what does it mean to be an ally?

Allyship is the active support of a person with social power for others without that power. In other words, if you're an ally, you advocate for others with less privilege than you to help promote their voices and experiences. Read on to learn more about allyship for different groups and spaces and ways to practice allyship.

What Is Allyship?

Allyship is when a person from a non-marginalized group, like a White person, uses their privilege to advocate for a marginalized group. Marginalized groups include those who identify as women, religious groups, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, or members of the neurodivergent, disabled, and LGBTQ+ communities.

Allyship also often means finding ways to transfer your power or privilege to those who lack it, coach and activist Holiday Phillips told Health. "In the context of anti-racism in [W]hite majority countries, this looks like [W]hite-identified people advocating for the needs of people of color," said Phillips.

Anyone can be an ally and participate in allyship. Allies serve different roles, like being an advocate for those who don't have a voice and supporters of marginalized groups and their experiences.

What Allyship Isn't

Allyship is not passive; it's something you have to do actively. In other words, it's not enough to post #BlackLivesMatter or #TransRightsAreHumanRights.

This type of passive allyship, designed to boost your social standing, has also been called "optical allyship." Optical allyship is a term widely attributed to Latham Thomas, founder of Mama Glow and author of Own Your Glow: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living and Crowning the Queen Within.

According to Thomas, optical allyship "only serves at the surface level to platform the 'ally.'" Thomas wrote in her 2020 book: "It makes a statement but doesn't go beneath the surface and is not aimed at breaking away from the systems of power that oppress."

Allyship for People of Color

Being an ally for people of color can include the following practices:

• Educating and doing research on your own about people of color and their experiences
  
• Having willingness and openness to listening and accepting criticism
• Knowing your privilege and how that privilege results in contributions to the oppression of these individuals
• Showing compassion by recognizing distressing experiences they may have and offering to help actively
• Using privilege to promote BIPOC voices

Allyship for the LGBTQ+ Community

Enacting allyship for the LGBTQ+ community may look like:

• Staying informed about sex, gender, and related news and issues
• Speaking up if you hear harmful words or terms used related to the LGBTQ+ community
• Being honest about your knowledge of the community or people who identify with the community
  
• Supporting equality across different spaces, such as work or school
• Being open about your decision to be an LGBTQ+ ally
• Using your pronouns, and asking others theirs to avoid misgendering

Allyship in the Workplace

Workplace allyship can include the above practices but also:

• Evaluating groups and determining where missing diverse voices can be added
• Having a workplace culture that promotes preventing harm regarding different identities
• Helping build workplaces based on staff value, appreciation, and recognition
• Promoting positive, civil actions and interactions among colleagues
• Providing open communication channels and spaces for expression
  

How To Be an Ally

There isn't a clear-cut guide to allyship or a checklist to work through. Still, there are steps you can take beyond showing public support for a cause.

Start By Looking Inward

Numerous identities and intersections are marginalized.

Be an ally by starting with your own life. For example, if you are white, "look at the ways in your life where white people are granted privilege over people of color," said Phillips. "This can be something as clear as speaking up when you see or hear racism in the moment. Or it could be more subtle, like noticing the ways that '[W]hite' is the norm and finding and seeking to change that."

If you're a parent, Phillips suggested making an active choice to ensure that the books, toys, and media your child is exposed to reflect a wide range of cultures. If you're a business leader, notice who you do and don't see in leadership positions in your company—and make a conscious effort to question this and seek to change it.

Find Areas of Change You're Passionate About

Sometimes, it can be hard to figure out how you have power. "If you can't specify a specific place in which you have power, you can seek out areas you feel passionate about changing," said Phillips. For instance, you might feel a strong pull toward social justice issues. You might also feel passionate about health care—a sphere filled with health disparities.

Whatever areas you choose, remember that you don't have to make changes by yourself. "The important thing is to know that no one person can do it all, and so we each individually need to locate where we have power and where we have passion and then commit to taking action there," said Phillips.

Be Specific About What You Want To Change

It's important to be specific, added Phillips. "A broad strokes approach doesn't help," explained Phillips. "Not all marginalized groups are affected in the same way; you need to take the time and initiative to seek out information and understand where injustices persist."

It's helpful to research and understand exactly what you're seeking to change about racial, sexual, gender, or cultural inequality. "Take the time to work out what you care about, and then start small," said Phillips. "Maybe it's donating to a charity. Maybe it's changing who you vote for. Maybe it's simply noticing that you clutch your bag a little tighter when you walk past a Black boy in a hood and consciously stopping it. Start where you are, and the rest will follow."

A Quick Review

Allyship is a way for non-marginalized groups of people to support people in marginalized groups actively. There are many ways to advocate for people of color, people in the LGBTQ+ community, and in the workplace. Overall, it's important to understand yourself in relation to the groups you want to be an ally for, know the areas in which you want to make changes, and be specific about what you desire to change.