Humpday open thread: Don't be an ally. Be an accomplice.

We see it all over social media. 

"BLM ally!"

"LGBTQ+ ally!"

"Latino ally!"

I look side-eye at anyone who claims "allyship". Oftentimes they bestow that title upon themselves. They do so because they use the right hashtags, they chant the right slogans, they watch The Daily Show every night. For those of us in the above categories, it's performative and rather insulting. Shouldn't we be the ones to confer the status of ally upon you? Shouldn't we be the ones who judge the validity of your claims to be allies? It's like, say, forming your own medical certification board and saying that you're "board certified". That dog just don't hunt.

But this abuelita? Oh yes, she got the memo.

Calling yourself an ally is cheap. I can call myself an emperor, and it would have the same effect. And as we've seen, allyship is conditional. It always has been. If the ally is made to feel at all uncomfortable, then all that good-feeling goes out the window. I've seen it countless times on social media, where a white person wants a cookie for not being an awful human being. Being decent is the bare minimum. As a Latino I don't need someone who goes over a low bar. I need to know that person will have my back no matter what. 

La abuelita gets it. She's saying what Black folks and people of color have been saying since 20 January, 2025. This regime has been doing everything possible to enrage us, especially the Black community. They've been trying to get us out on the street so that they can declare a state of insurrection. They wanted to see cities burning and massive riots. And Black folks and Latinos know this. Which is why we've stayed home.

White people did this. White voters put that demon back into office. (Sadly, so did my fellow Latin men. It was a hard lesson to learn, but it seems they are learning it.) White people, as is oft said, can end this tomorrow if they so desired. We'll see what transpires in November. I have hope, but we've been down this road before. It's not for me with my Spanish name to fix this. I did what I was supposed to do.

This abuelita is an accomplice. She knows what's up. And she is welcome any time to a meal of lechón asado at my house. We need more like her. Then we might get somewhere.