Cause?
What cause?
(Hint: there’s always a cause)
My journey here has been… complicated. Sure, I could say I write to share my story, or to honour my grandma, or because writing brings me joy, and all of these things would be true, but the cause? This reaches deeper. It is a reason, a purpose, a passion which pushes me into prose.
When I started writing it was to bring people together, share in our experiences, and to support learning and growing, together—nothing has changed there, I am still here for these reasons—although, with the help of trauma-informed teachings and learning I have come to some deepened realizations: our world is suffering, people are struggling, and most of us are drowning with our own inner turmoils… (ouch, right?) This also means a lot of people are not even in a place to care about what happens to others (which kind of explains a lot, if you really think about it…) SO, my first focus is to bring awareness and support for healing—for me, you, them, us, we—the collective. Only once we’ve spent some time there will we then turn our attention to others. Simply put: We need to see and heal our own wounds and traumas before we can see and support the causes of others.
And what about the causes of others? What does it mean to support them?
Well, I’ve always thought of myself as an ally for all causes, but never put much into it; I’ve always thought, simply, that all people deserve to be treated fairly and with kindness, but didn’t really DO anything. To be honest, I didn’t know how to show up, or what to do, mostly because I was so deep in my own storm that I couldn’t bring myself to step out, speak up, and actively support those who may be discriminated against.
That’s where things have changed, both from starting to work on my own inner “stuff,” but also from gaining a better understanding of what it means to be an ally, which was made even clearer by a podcast with Dr.Yaba Blay. Dr. Blay is a scholar-activist, author, and cultural worker who advocates with passion, and she explained the difference of being a true ally in a way I’ve never heard before, and it resonated—deeply.
(CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast, it’s called: The Power of Rethinking Everything with Dr. Yaba Blay—found on the “We Can Do Hard Things” Podcast)
Here’s the jist: you’re either an ally of people who says you support the rights of others, and then encourage them to do their work—or you’re in it, getting your hands dirty, and risking that you may be treated differently for standing beside them.
She prefers the term accomplice—no, not because you need to break laws—but because it’s the type of work which requires you to “get in the car” when a friend says they need you, while knowing that means things could get messy.
When you simply say you’re an ally though, you have “no skin in the game,” as Dr.Blay says, meaning it’s all talk no action—and action doesn’t mean reading a book, or having a black(or insert other minority) friend you can parade around with—it means speaking up when injustices are happening, because if you just stand by, but say you’re an ally…are you though? Really?
In listening to Dr.Yaba Blay I realized that my allyship runs deep, on a level where I am willing to tarnish my own reputation simply because I believe in the fair and just treatment of all people. Truthfully, the idea of speaking out, especially when it’s not the popular opinion, makes me nauseous—but my belief in equality is bigger than me and my personal comforts, so I am committed to doing it anyway.
Yes, I have felt the sting of discrimination for the colour of my skin, but it is important to know that my experiences are mere drips in the bucket (CLICK HERE to read my post on ignorance and unlearning) because the reality is I pass for white. It’s only when I put myself out there by putting on my sash and talking about my ancestors/culture that people call my skin into question—not dark enough—but to feel that hate, and then know people live with it, all the time, feeling that hate, EVERY SINGLE DAY, simply for being who they are?!
That’s not right.
So that’s why I’m here.
That’s the cause I stand for.
…Will you stand with me?
