Allies: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up, And Trying Again by various authors with contributing editors Shakirah Bourne and Dana Alison Levy
Published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd
IN a time where so much information is shared online, truths about the issues faced in society by marginalised communities become far more accessible to people of all ages.
It is necessary that we teach the children and young people growing up today about how to learn and grow to be a helpful ally to their friends, their family and to even strangers who might need it. Many resources that aim to educate about oppressed communities and allyship use language that is extremely complex and come across as purely academic or intimidating, particularly to younger people.
Not only is this book refreshing for its clarity and empathy but also for the first step in the right direction it signals. Even before reading, which I would highly suggest that you do, a donation of 5% of the net sales of the book go to The Black Curriculum. This is a social enterprise working to change the lack of Black British History in UK schools with workshops, teacher training programmes and assemblies.
It is a cause that ties in perfectly with the overarching message of this book, teaching children and teenagers about the issues that matter, those that affect them personally and those they simply don’t know where to start with doing their bit to help.
The theme of Allies is exactly that. It’s comprised of 17 essays from YA authors asked to write about what allyship means to them. This wide scope for the imagination allows for such variation in the essays that every reader will have something there they can relate to.
The first, by Dana Alison Levy, takes a charming and realistic look about what it is to try to be an ally in the best way that you can. It discusses how we can’t be perfect, or always know the answer, but that to stop trying is the worst idea.
This essay includes one of my favourite quotes that encapsulates a message that should be in mind with the term. “Being an all, first of all, is a constant act - not a state of being”
Though the essays included may use humour and levity to carry the message, this does not weaken the subject. It is not enough to refer to yourself as an ally without making the effort to be one to those around you who need it.
A commonality with the different approaches to the subject taken by the authors was that each response was tailored to the person and their situation.
Sometimes being an ally is what we think of right away, like protesting and donating and calling for change, and sometimes being an ally is the quiet things like sharing your culture with friends like in Eric Smith’s contribution “Hey Kid, Choose Your Battles”.
Whatever allyship means to you is the way you should express it. This book is both the perfect starting guide to being an ally, and a comfort in the situations where you might be the person who needs one.
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