What is the difference between solidarity and allyship?
Julia: We spoke about solidarity and allyship as concepts within an overlapping Venn diagram, where empathy and understanding are at the intersection. For instance, one can "stand in solidarity” with members of the Asian community after upsetting reports of hate crimes, or with indigenous groups who he lost their land. Solidarity is a call to action in response to (or in opposition towards) a specific event or concern. Many participants considered allyship to be more of a personal, invisible process by which we learn how to support our friends, coworkers, or others on a daily basis. Allyship is a lifelong process of discovery with no specific goal or conclusion in mind. True solidarity requires allyship.
Megan: As Julia mentions above, what at first glance appear to be synonyms, the words allyship and solidarity seemingly echo the split between acting in solidarity with an individual vs. a larger political movement. Some participants felt strongly in for of the word allyship, with one member of the group recounting the story of his attempt to translate allyship into different languages. Ultimately, they settled on using the word “friendship” in place of “allyship,” and noted that in Chinese, “friendship” literally translates as “two hands.” The image of two interlocking hands is often used to signify solidarity. Others advocated for solidarity wanting to bring in the element of politics, suggesting that solidarity can play a greater role in structural change.
What is the best way to stand in solidarity with someone else?
Julia: “What do I do to help?” is a question often asked by empathetic people who want to stand up for a cause but don’t know how or where to start. While it comes from a well-meaning place, this cry into the wilderness can be emotionally exhausting and frustrating to hear for people and groups seeking true solidarity and support. During my master’s program, I worked with a team of graduate students to create and conduct a survey, with the goal of understanding the community’s response to police violence. During one contentious meeting, a community member raised her hand. Clearly frustrated, she stated, “you keep asking what you can do, but you aren’t really hearing us.” Instead of demanding answers, perhaps we can reframe our appeal: “Let’s talk about what’s going on.”
Megan: One approach that was repeatedly stressed during our session, was the importance of asking the community, or the individual, with whom you want engage in solidarity, what solidarity looks like for them. In my experience developing both human rights advocacy campaigns and community engagement projects for a non-profit museum, ascertaining the needs of the community you seek to serve is step number one, crucial to the long-term success of any campaign/project. Needs determine goals and those goals should align with your organization’s overall mission. Even on the individual level, this is a roadmap for solidarity. Instead of a mission statement, we he values—the very values that motivate us to act in solidarity with others. However, if we fail to prioritize the needs of those whom we wish to show solidarity for, we run the risk of at best, appearing out of touch or ineffective, and at worst, coming across as the patronizing “great white sior,” who ultimately does more harm than good.