We Don’t Need More Allies

Allyship is the labor of fighting for Equity! We don’t need passive allies; we need Equity Brokers.

We’re in a season where the calendar is full! We want to be outside enjoying the weather while celebrating Pride and Juneteenth, but with midterms, we are in full election-year mobilization. We are planning our level of engagement, watching candidate forum after candidate forum, and figuring out how best to support our people. Every cycle, as we get closer to the primary election, things get complicated. These moments remind us of who we say we are. But they also reveal who we are and how we show up, for each other and for the communities we serve.

Over the last few months, our coalition has done powerful work. We’ve launched the Narrative Beacon, built a Rapid Response Infrastructure, and worked together to bring Salah Sarsour home! We’ve trained hundreds of messengers. We’ve built tools that make it easier for everyday people to talk about freedom, safety, justice, and joy. All the while, we know it has been our most vulnerable communities, especially Black, Brown, queer, trans, and disabled communities, that carry the weight of turnout, storytelling, and relational organizing, as they always do.

But we’ve also seen something else: the rise of allies that remain quiet when we need them to speak up. Folks who fear stirring the pot when we need them to tip the pot over. Folks who simply don’t show up unless the crowd pressures them to do so. In other words, they are quietly opting out of the responsibility that the title of ally requires.

Last time you heard from me, I was pissed off. But this isn't just an irritation or a pet peeve. This is something that frustrates me ... makes me a little sad ... and honestly exhausts me. But we need you to hear this: part of becoming (and remaining) what an ally should be is overcoming fear, learning what support really looks like, and growing into an Equity Broker.

What It Means

Sometimes the vibes are off, but that doesn’t mean that allyship should stop. It is not about the vibe or where to place a yard sign. True allyship isn’t a rainbow logo in June or wearing a Juneteenth t-shirt. It’s not a self-appointed identity that comes with applause. It is not attending a parade with Pride or Juneteenth colors.

Allyship is a practice! Allyship is a set of behaviors that must be demonstrated consistently, especially when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or unglamorous.

My preferred term is Equity Broker. Being an Equity Broker means helping to alter the policies and practices everywhere that they are needed, at work, at school, at home, in your neighborhoods, literally everywhere. This means never going off the clock and putting your ally hat away; it is true labor. Equity Brokers understand that there is power in diversity and are prepared to put words to action by giving up their power.

What does this look like:

• Showing up, no matter what, and even when the cameras aren’t there

• Learning to follow. Following the leadership of the people most impacted is extremely important

• Sharing resources. All resources, people, money, and power.

• Taking risks that redistribute power, not just attention

• Being accountable when harm happens

• Staying in the work even when the work gets messy, and trust me, it will get messy

Allyship is the labor of fighting for Equity! We don’t need passive allies; we need Equity Brokers.

Say No to Entitlement

Somewhere along the way, “ally” became a white-lady-in-a-Subaru buzzword, a soft, self-congratulatory title that requires no sacrifice and expects a trophy in return.

An Ally and most certainly an Equity Broker isn’t entitled to;

• praise 

• leadership roles

• comfort

• proximity to the communities they claim to support

• and forgiveness without repair.

Allyship is not a badge or a brand.  And being an Equity Broker is not a pass into spaces built by people who have survived what you’ve only studied.

A Word That Might Serve Us Better

Actually, I think that “ally” has run its course. It’s time for a word that reflects the actual work required.

I have been using the term Equity Broker since 2020, when I was a DEI Consultant. But there are a lot of words to choose from that have a greater impact, some others that I like are: co-conspirator, accomplice, practitioner, partner in liberation, these words that imply movement, not identity. Words that require action, not aesthetics.

Because the truth is: We don’t need more allies. We need people committed to the practice of liberation.

Coalition Work: Where the Gap Shows Up

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, the disappointment many of us felt around the Callais moment and the Milwaukee ballot mobilization efforts. We had partners who said the right things in meetings, nodded at the right slides, and repeated the right talking points.

But when it came time to follow through, to mobilize, to invest, to take risks, to stand firm,  some folks disappeared into the distance.

This isn’t about blame. It’s about alignment.

Narrative power requires consistency. Movement work requires reliability. Democracy requires participation that is deeper than statements and safer than symbolism.

We want to build a Wisconsin where everyone has freedom, safety, justice and joy.  So we can’t afford a performative partnership. We need people who will show up when it’s hard, not just when it’s hashtag-friendly.

Requirements of Liberation 

Let us not forget what is required to gain liberation:

• Collective action and courage

• Risk-taking

• Disruption

• Imagination

• Community care

• Accountability

• Joy as a strategy, not a distraction

These holidays were born from people who didn’t wait for permission to be free. They didn’t ask for allies. They built movements with folks willing to risk it all.

If we want to honor Pride and Juneteenth, we do so by practicing the same courage, not by posting about it.

Are you All In?

At All In Wisconsin, we are building a statewide narrative strategy rooted in freedom, safety, justice, and joy. That work requires partners who are aligned not just in language, but in our shared values and behaviors.

If you want to be part of this movement, it requires consistent practice in our movement work and in our neighborhoods.

Here are some quick tips:

1. Show up. 

2. Follow through. 

3. Take risks. 

4. Share power. 

5. Repair harm. 

6. Stay in the work. 

7. Choose courage over comfort. 

8. Choose community over credit. 

9. Choose liberation over optics.

Because Wisconsin doesn’t need more than allies, Wisconsin deserves people who are All In.