How To Be An Ally

You are not The Lorax.

The Lorax, gave voice to the trees, who could not speak for themselves. The Lorax gave boice to the voiceless.

But the communities you ally with can, and do, speak for themselves. They are not voiceless, so you should not be The Lorax, and prioritize your voice over their own.

You can be a megaphone. You do not (and should not) speak for others when they can speak for themselves. You can (and should) use your privilege to amplify those voices.

You are not The Lorax. The trees could never speak back. They never had the chance to say "well, maybe we'd prefer to be cut down."

But the communities you ally yourself with can speak back. They can tell you you're doing a crappy job, that you're using the wrong terms, that you could improve. And you need to listen. People might hurt your feelings. They might be harsh. But you still need to listen.

You are not The Lorax. The Lorax could go into the forest and say they spoke for the trees and so they did. You can not walk into a community and tell them that you are their friend. You have to prove this friendship by consistently and fairly working on their behalf. You earn ally status, you don't just grab it.

You are not The Lorax, because they stood alone. You have the chance to work and speak and interact with others who are a part (or an ally) of your communities. You can learn from them. You can keep up to date. You can read.

And most of all, you can do what no one did to The Lorax. You can listen