Want to know how to be a good ally but missed our ally-ship event? Don't worry we have you covered! You can watch the discussion here.
Date: Wednesday 9 September 2020
Time: 12:00 - 13:30
Platform: ZOOM
We're delighted to have joined forces with gender equality networks across London Universities to ask the question: 'Is 'Ally-ship' ever enough?' A group of speakers from LSE, UCL, KCL and City University will came together to debate the value, meaning and usefulness of the term.
- Do we need to demand more from our allies?
- Do we need to renegotiate the terms of our initial agreement?
- Who are the silent advocates?
- What can we do to be better activists?
We're proud to have had our very own Serena James, LSE Power Internal Relations Manager and MSc Programme Administrator in the Department of Government to represent LSE. See her write-up of the event below:
On 9 September 2020 representatives from the Gender Equality Networks from City, UCL Kings and LSE came together to discuss the question “Is allyship ever enough?”. I was delighted to represent the LSE Power Network at this Zoom panel discussion on the theme of allyship. First, we looked at what allyship meant to us as individuals, and then considered how to be an ally.
Each of the panellists had a different angle, and we discussed how to be feminist ally, an anti-racist ally, an ally to transgender and non-binary people, and how to be an ally to people with disabilities.
Prior to the panel discussion, Professor Zoe Radnor, Vice-President of Equality Diversity and Inclusion at City University, spoke on the importance of ally-ship in this current moment and spoke about intersectionality from her personal experience of being a working single mother and having a disability.
I spoke from personal experience on what allyship means to me and why it is important. In my opinion, allyship is so important and is often overlooked. Step One of allyship is to educate yourself on the issues, as you cannot fight what you do not know. And so, it is crucial to educate yourself and to learn about the issues that marginalised groups face. True allyship and the kind of ally ship that is useful and important is active allyship. In the context of being an anti-racism ally, this means actively taking steps to support people of colour, and challenge racism in all areas of your life.
There were approximately 90 attendees at the event, and it was fantastic to have the opportunity to interact with so many different professionals from LSE and the other institutions. It was great to collaborate with the Gender Equality Networks from other London Universities and share ideas. We hope to hold another collaborative external event soon… so watch this space! Thank you very much to my colleague Louise Millar for making the connections with the other universities and for organising this collaborative event. And thank you Albina Shashyna for hosting the event.