Written piece
Instructions for allies
Sandhya Singh
Canada
About this piece
People who belong to a dominant group often ask how they can be better allies. For example, White people ask what they can do to be allies to People of Colour or Indigenous people. But sometimes being an ally means deliberately doing nothing, in order to leave space for others.
Instructions for allies
Do not speak
Do not gobble up precious space with your greedy eagerness
Do not swallow up all the air
Lay claim to nothing
Shrink
Dissolve
Experiment with erasure
Put on invisibility
Try out empty
Endure uncomfortable
Cringe
Squirm
Leave early
Don’t come
Restrain your tears
Suck them back in
Dry eyes
Dry mouth
Dry asshole
Squeeze them all shut
Soften the skin on your face
Relax your tongue: you don’t need it today
Soften your gut: absorb the blows
Put your hands out
Palms up
Heart open
Bear witness.