WASHINGTON — These past few months we’ve heard a lot of talk about allyship. What does it look like? What does it sound like? What is the best way to be about it? Will it be welcomed? In case you’re wondering, yes, it is.
In a short definition, an ally is a person who makes the decision to understand, empathize with, and as a result, support others. Being an ally is not who you are, it’s what you are, and it's based in action. The first of which should be, listening. Actively listening. Then reflecting. It takes commitment, and practice, so it wasn’t surprising to me when college football analyst Kirk Herbstreight used his platform to advocate for social justice. If anybody knows anything about study, commitment and practice, it would be a former college quarterback.
With tears in his eyes, he asked, "How do you listen to the stories coming out of the Black community and not feel the pain? Not want to help." Calling for togetherness he simply said, “we’ve got to do better." He opened himself up in service of others he finally heard. A people he’s known for years but never listened to. Doing it in a space that will allow him to reach others like him. He’s being an ally. And he did it without seeking any personal gain.
Unlike Jessica Krug. The now-disgraced George Washington Professor who evidently spent what would've been a distinguished career in blackface. Born a white Jewish woman, she decided to take on different ethnicities inside of Blackness before settling on afro-Latina. This is not Allyship. Far from it. The ironic and sad part of it all--she could have been an ally, a very powerful one if she had just kept it real. She didn’t have to go out like Rachel Dolezal. There isn’t a skin tone requirement to teach African History. You don’t have to colonize blackness for that. And we should welcome anyone Black, white or purple, who wants to understand and communicate our experiences--especially to those we might not otherwise reach. Now, the good work she has done in the past has been undercut by this story. No one needs this. Least of all the movement.
What is needed are solid allies, like Kirk. Allies who are willing to do their personal work, and then reach out to their friends and neighbors with it. It’s not gonna be easy. It’s not gonna be comfortable. But if we want a lasting change, this is the way to do it. Not through imitation, nor by yelling in someone’s face while they’re eating dinner at a sidewalk café. But by listening, empathizing, changing and sharing.
RELATED: ESPN's Herbstreit breaks into tears, urges help for Black people in fight against injustice