I've been podcasting since 2008 talking about things from the ongoing story of my life to pop culture ephemera. I love podcasting as a medium to have engaging conversations and share ideas with people.
Since 2008, I've also become more and more involved in unionism and labour activism. The ongoing evolution of being an activist and advocate for working class issues has led to a parallel evolution in learning about the intersectionality of working class people with lenses of racism, marginalization and oppression.
I want to be the best comrade I can be for other workers and people in my communities.
I'm not claiming to know the answers, but I want to learn and do better.
In the work I've done so far, I've stumbled upon four basic tenets which have guided my learning thus far:
Acknowledge my ignorance - For me to claim any understand of the challenges and barriers with regards to most marginalized people is absurd.
Admit complicity - As part of a white supremacist society that profits on the backs of our comrades who are Indigenous, Black, and/or People of Colour, my lack of action to understand and help mitigate systemic racism (upon learning about it) when I was younger made my completely complicit in that racism. I can only commit to try to mitigate this complicity going forward. I have tried. I'm sure I will stumble along the way. And that leads me to...
Listen with humility - Although I will certainly be talking on this podcast, my goal is to listen to the comrades who choose to join me here and, maybe even in some cases, open their eyes to how clueless some of us allies can be.
Reject righteousness - This is the latest of my tenets. It's a very fine line between being an ally or advocate and being righteous about it. I'm constantly fighting against the temptations of virtue signalling with other white comrades. I still have more to process on this one, but I'm trying to get there. Righteousness makes people intractable and I don't think an ally can be effective in such a state.
I'm typing this all up into an About page so I don't have to explain it at the beginning of each podcast. If you've read all of this and you'd like to get in touch, please do.
Solidarity!