Dr. Akilah Cadet On How To Ally

The activist and antiracism educator shares her five principles of authentic allyship, and some real world tips for how to be a sincere and effective advocate for Black lives.

Dr. Akilah Cadet photographed on the set of The Black Truth Project by Steve Babuljak. — *Dr. Akilah Cadet* *photographed on the set of The Black Truth Project by* *Steve Babuljak*.

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Being an antiracist educator in 2021 can feel like something of a contradiction.

"I work hard every day to put myself out of business,” says Dr. Akilah Cadet, CEO and founder of Change Cadet.

Cadet has made a career out of guiding non-Black people into allyship with the Black community through her Oakland-based consulting and education company. She was driven to found Change Cadet after experiencing racial and gender discrimination in the workplace. “Now I do all that I can to make sure Black women feel safe in the workplace. That all Black, Indigenous, People of Color feel safe in their workspaces. Marginalized communities, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community—people should not feel othered in a space where they spend most of their time.” She’s also the chief creative officer here at Represent Collaborative.

The foundation of allyship is never opting out, says Cadet, and realizing that even having the choice to do so is a privilege afforded only to them.

“I don’t want to hear, ’Oof, this is too much for me,’ because I don’t have the liberty. I don’t have that choice,” she says. “If I want any amount of success or any remote cousin of human decency, I have to learn how to live in your white space.”

With the aim of exposing more people to Black spaces and experiences, Cadet and Represent Collaborative, in partnership with lululemon, recently launched The Black Truth Project: a deep dive into the lived realities of a group of very different individuals — from an artist to an Olympian, a physician to an activist — who come from starkly different backgrounds. Made up of a series of short films, still photographs, interviews and artwork, the project features revealing stories that dig into everything from rich personal histories to pivotal experiences with racism to unbridled moments of joy. Cadet calls The Black Truth Project “a way for Black people to see and celebrate themselves and a powerful call to continued allyship for non-Black people.”

With that in mind, Cadet shares her five principles of authentic allyship, and some real world tips for how to be a sincere and effective advocate for Black lives, from Black artists to your co-workers and neighbors, for the long term.

Awareness

Be aware of where you are, who you're talking to, what you're bringing to the table. How can you show up for other people? This constant awareness can help you avoid performative allyship, reverse racism and white centering.

Privilege

It's important to understand privilege — the privilege that you have, where it came from, and what you were able to provide for yourself because of it. Bottom line is, a white person does have more privilege than Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), but that also means they have more opportunity to do good on behalf of the BIPOC community. Non-BIPOC people have more opportunity to change things.

Discomfort

It's important to be comfortable being uncomfortable. To use your privilege to speak up for someone. To ask how you can help. To get into the daily action of advocating for and being an ally to someone who doesn't look like you or have the same lived experience as you. That means you are going to be in positions when you try, but don’t do it the right way. But that's OK. If someone holds you accountable and says “Hey, that wasn't OK” you say “Thank you for that,” as opposed to going inward. That will be uncomfortable, but it will build your awareness.

Apology

Once you’re comfortable being uncomfortable, you have to be able to apologize. When you say something that hurt someone or physically touched someone in a way that caused harm, just apologize and don’t be defensive. Because in that defense, you're centering yourself and not holding yourself accountable for your actions.

Learning and Unlearning

Every time you become aware of your privilege, or you’re comfortable being uncomfortable, or you apologize for something that you didn't know was racist or hurtful or offensive, you are learning and unlearning from that experience. It helps you move forward, and that continuous process is what’s needed to keep people showing up for the long term. There's no end date for allyship.