Carnival of Allies

I'm not sure I'm the kind of ally that PoC would want, seeing as how I think Obama's race speech was a start on that conversation we ought to be having, but that it leaned too much toward reassuring white people that, while they had reason to be angry in the past, from now on black people will only ask politely for their rights. I seem to be the only person in the entire United States -- white, black, liberal, conservative, or orange with green polkadots -- who feels this way.

Still, it's a worthy cause, and The Angry Black Woman asks a fair question: Is it easier for an unenlightened person of privilege to empathize with, and change their behavior toward, an oppressed group if another, enlightened person of privilege explains it to them, rather than their having to stoop to listening to the actual oppressed ones? After years and years of living here in the Deep South, beating my head against this wall, my guess is: No, people with power and privileges don't want to give them up and won't listen to anybody who's proposing that they share, but I may take a stab at it anyway.

If you're a member of some privileged group, not necessarily whites, and feel like you may be an effective ally of a less-privileged group, you have until May 5 to join the Carnival of Allies.