What do we mean by "ally"?

In our discussions of how one's own identity impacts one's reading of the text, people have used the term "ally". I'm worried that we haven't explored what we mean by that term! Here's one definition:

An ally is someone who speaks up or takes action against oppression not target towards themselves. (Yeskel, 1997, p. 249)

Often people who use the term emphasize that being an "ally" means working with and listening to members who belong to the oppressed group. It is often connected to the idea of recognizing and responding to privilege.

For me the term is helpful in thinking about how I acknowledging my own privilege as a white person and how/why I might work to end racism, for example. As a woman, it also helps me think about how men can be a part of dismantling sexism.

Here are some other resources that I found which might help you think about the term and what it helps you see or do:

• A more developed definition of ally from Bishop
• A list of "characteristics of an ally" from "Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice", p. 108. I don't have an electronic copy of this (and it's too long to quote), so I'll bring the book to our next class..
  
• Adversary vs Ally, a list of concrete actions one can take from the University of New Hampshire Residential Life page
• A lesson plan from Teaching Tolerance that explores how you might think of the concept with students

Feel free to comment with questions, ideas, connections to literature, etc.