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So You Want To Be An Ally

“The violence of racism is that it makes you believe that you have to be someone other than yourself in order to be loved.” — Clint Smith

Hi, let me reintroduce myself to you all - I am L. Williams, I am African-American. I am a freelance writer/illustrator who has been riding horses for the last two decades, competing on the rated circuit in California.

My ancestors were African slaves, my great great grandparents were black, my grandmother was black, my dad was black (all dead - yeah my dad was murdered, I don't know if I ever told you all that before)

I'm really, truly glad many of you have decided to join the fight for justice, this has been going on a long, long, time. A lot of people, from all walks of life experience injustice and suffering in our country every day. I am not denying that, but Black Americans have felt the weight of systemic oppression since the very beginning. Anyway, again, welcome to the fight.

There are many ways you can help POC (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, etc) besides just posting on social media:

  • First and foremost - You absolutely must confront/debate/talk to other white people about why this is important.

  • You must listen to the voices of those who have been oppressed without judgement, or interruption. It's not some misery Olympics, ok.

  • And know just because you are white doesn't mean you didn't struggle, no one is negating the fact that life is hard, but it means the color of your skin didn't factor into why you struggled.

  • You can go to a protest - as a small woman, I only go for the first couple hours and leave before evening.

  • You can volunteer to run, organize, or handle supplies for protesters.

  • You can donate money or time, or BOTH, to non-profit organizations that are trying to battle injustice (links at the end of this post).

  • You can pay attention and support businesses who support the cause and actively boycott companies who do the opposite or are just unclassy motherfuckers.

  • Vote, omg VOTE in every goddamn election, even for dog catcher. Research your candidates. Do just more than the bare minimum. My Grandmother couldn't vote until 1965, she was born in 1920. I vote every goddamn time because that shit was hard won.

  • Demand more from people who hold public office.

  • Demand a citizens review board of your police departments!

  • Demand de-militarization of police departments. Cops should not be equipped with war machines. No 'ifs' 'ands' or 'buts' about that...

  • If you are worried about crime then you should be pro funding public schools and expanding the social safety net. And to put things bluntly crime has been on the decline in America for a while now.

  • You can demand that police budgets be

  • You could also run for office in your town or city. Do you know how many positions go uncontested?!?!

Even though I shouldn't have to do this work explaining things to you - I also understand what it feels like to be confronted with a monolithic amount of work before you and feel a cascade of anxiety to the point it forces you to inaction.

You should probably read up (this is obviously not everything but its a good fucking start):

Other POC stories (graphic novels, cuz you know I have a Masters in it):

Want to read about Equestrians of Color? Check out:

Places to donate to (time or money!):

Hey and remember - Puerto Rico still needs help too...

How to Not Be An Ally To POC - Being like Kelly and her Amateur Hour podcast friends and talk for 1 minute about Diverse representation in the media after I (a POC) publish an article with a magazine about that same topic and not even referencing it though I was told privately they read and liked my piece.... That is not how you amplify someone else's message... that is how you subvert someone's message and literally white-wash it.

This is one of my favorite quotes by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It has haunted me, reverberated in my brain since the very first time I read it. People don't seem to realize it means that if you are silent about the injustices happening around you, that you are complicit in that injustice. Trust me, I'm taking notice of what people are saying and doing. All eyes are watching. It can be daunting to get off the fence and raise your voice or amplify the voice of others, but take some time this week make those baby steps of understanding and start wading through the articles and history so you can have an informed opinion. Ignorance is not an excuse, and neither is helplessness.

Here is a real life example for you: I've been an ally of the LGBTQ+ community for over 20 years at this point. So many of my friends are at the intersection of Queer and POC. In high school I held office of the Gay-Straight Alliance. In college I did the same. I marched and protested with them, I wrote to legislators, organized and fund-raised with them. I am straight, and I've made my share of mistakes along the journey to understanding and supporting the matters that were most important to them - Love is Love. Even my own parents love would have been illegal prior to 1967. I wasn't a perfect ally, but I did the work and I showed up.

Don't let your desire to be a 'perfect' ally stop you from just showing up and being there.


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