In Ayvazian's Interrupinting then Cycle of Oppression: The Roles of Allies as Agents of Change defines what being an ally: "a member of dominant group in our society who works to dismantle any form of oppression from which she or he receives the benefit". She then continues to describe how this person takes a stand for what they believe in. They may call out someone for saying something they don't like to hear, they challenge people to help others who may not have to the words to help themselves. When reading the article I googled ally, and I found good definitions and examples. I also found this video as well.
The company Accenture, is a global company that works with other companies to improve them, but they also work as allys to the people in their company. They want the people in their company to be able to feel comfortable in the workplace. I think this is a nice thing because it gets everyone involved in being helpful to one another. I think this ties in with Ayvazian because people in Accenture are working to help others. They are using ally behavior "taking personal responsibility for the changes we know are needed in our society, and so often ignore or to leave to others to deal with".
I like how you have examples of an ally and actions they may express to help others others in need. Also the video you included Telling It Straight,of this Accenture company talking about LGBT cultures, the discussions were very intimate, a nice find (:
ReplyDeleteI loved your video!!! It is really a good example of how anyone can be an ally.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteNice video. A different way to look at being an ally.