In Skin, Tooth, and Bone, Patty Bern and and Sins Invalid write about the 10 principles of disability justice. They provide clear guidelines for a motion around the assembly of agency and activism for the disabled justice movement.
One principle that I found to be most important in this section is ... There has been a long-time misunderstanding about what it means to be an ally in movements; it is often forgotten that the mobilization lies within the minority group and not within their more-privileged advocates. In the process of forming an activist platform, able-bodied persons have a habit of taking on the role of center of the movement and looking at it as an advantage for them, rather than a push toward the actual goal. This is what is often called the "White Savior" complex.
Another reason this principle stands out to me as one of the most important is because of what it entails- that disabled persons CAN help themselves- i.e. they aren't as helpless as we often simplify them to be. This is so vital to the movement, as it further encourages allies to step back and understand that their roles as allies is to provide support and back up those on the forefront, not to claim the movement as their own. The point of the movement is not to perpetuate a vision of disabled persons as helpless unmotivated/unable to mobilize. Rather, it is to turn more heads toward the need for resources in order for these groups to mobilize and be active independently AND interdependently.
This is a common theme within many, if not all, minority groups mobilizing around the world. In terms of international feminism, there is an issue around groups of South/Southwest Asian women who are fighting against colonial control and western racism along with intracultural problems and the western "feminists" who try to enforce their still-racist feminism. Rather than creating or encouraging more space for the assembly of Arab women activists.
What are some strategies we can adopt to ensure we are not overstepping our boundaries as allies to various minority groups?
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https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=qxebWsi9E8Ts_QaJvKCABA&btnG=Search&q=arab+women+activist+organizations#imgrc=i5YbeA8YVEXKsM:
Dijana, I felt your comparison of disability allies who speak over disabled people in their political advocacy to those with a "White Savior Complex" was spot-on. You did a wonderful job of articulating Sins Invalid's emphasis on "Acknowledging that we all can act as allies to one another in different ways across abilities, but that we need to be intentional about our institutional positions and other types of power; making sure that we are organizing with, and not for, one another."
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the organization Autism Speaks, which claims to advocate for autistic people but has failed to place autistic individuals in leadership positions, "advocacy" has presented as raising money for genetic research seeking to eliminate autism, a form of eugenics resented by the majority of the autistic community and not representative of its interests at all.
In response to your discussion question, I think the short answer is to be sure that minority group members being advocated for are placed in movement leadership positions and have the loudest voices in expressing theory and strategy.
Responding to your question, as Arel said, is to make sure that minorities are able to advocate for themselves. It is important to understand as an ally that it is your place to listen, validate the experiences of the minorities, teach when there is a need for you, and give credit where credit is due. Being an ally is about listening and being an ally is a verb. It is also imperative that allies are always taking the initiative to educate themselves on the topic, without expecting someone to do the emotional labor for them.
ReplyDeleteTo add on to what Arel and Nikhaule mentioned, I also think its important for allies to speak up on issues when necessary. Sometimes having an ally speak on our behalf is actually more beneficial and safer. Sometimes an ally speaks over or for issues and the actual impacted community doesn’t get a say or their voice may not be heard. However, it might be necessary for allies to step up sometimes and speak for the community, especially in cases where a community might feel particularly attacked, because they might not receive as much backlash.
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