Writing prompts can help give us content ideas or alleviate writer’s block when it strikes, but they can also be an opportunity to pause and reflect. We can use them to practice gratitude but also challenge ourselves to examine how we practice our humanity.
This may sound really heavy and possibly unlike how we’ve used writing prompts in the past, but by looking at what we’re putting out into the world, we can remind ourselves that we’re all connected and responsible for making a difference.
When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. John Lewis
We can all share and stand up for what’s good, even when we don’t see much of it around us or within us at times. Nobody is perfect, nobody is a paragon of virtue, everyone is a complex mix, but everyone has something that they can work on that puts a little more actionable empathy out into the world.
Allyship, to put it simply, is about understanding what needs to change within ourselves and within society — and doing something about it. It’s recognizing where social injustice, oppression, mistreatment and marginalization exists and acknowledging that even though we might not be impacted by these things personally, it’s our fight too.
Here are 10 Writing Prompts to Focus On Effective Allyship:
1. | What are your motivations for being an ally to a particular cause?
2. | Is your allyship performative or actionable? How/Why? Do you know the difference?
3. | In what ways do you make sure you centre the voices and experiences of those who are targeted by social, racial or environmental injustice?
4. | What implicit biases do you have? How do you try to re-educate yourself about them?
5. | How willing are you to speak out when you see or hear something racist or harmful to another group of people? If you have some discomfort with it, why? What can you do to overcome that?
6. | What social privileges do you have? How do you use them or pass them on to benefit those who don’t have them?
7. | When was the last time you stood up against something that was racist or harmful to another group of people? What did you do and how did you make an impact?
8. | What mistakes did you make when being an ally to a particular cause? What did you learn from those mistakes? How did you respond to being corrected or educated about how something you were doing, as an ally, was counterproductive?
9. | How do you educate yourself about injustice? What resources have you used and shared with other allies? How do you ensure that those who are directly impacted by social, racial or environmental inequity do not have to carry the sole weight and responsibility of instructing others about their trauma?
10. | What does the love, care and compassion you show others tell you about yourself?
I really found that thinking about these writing prompts helped me focus on what my role is as an ally and how I can be most effective. I hope you will find them equally as informative — let me know your thoughts.
Which writing prompt resonated with you the most?
Further Info:
White Allies, Let’s Be Honest About Decolonization – Yes!
LGBTQ Rights – ACLU
transatlantic | notes 
This is an excellent post! I love your prompt ideas, I think I’m gonna use them for myself to be honest! I feel really strongly about being an ally and supporting those who need it and speaking out for those who are being treated unjustly. I think so many people, especially those of us who have more privileges, need to learn about being an advocate and educating themselves on these worldwide issues because they’re very real and unfortunately very common. Thank you for sharing!
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I feel really strongly about it too and I want to make sure I honour all the work of those who are experiencing injustice firsthand. I really hope you find these prompts useful — and thank you for standing up and speaking out!
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I feel these prompts are not only great as writing prompts, but are also amazing for self reflections. I really feel like I could benefit from sitting down and spending a time journalling through each as I feel it’s important to continue to revisit these questions.
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I’m really pleased you may find these prompts useful. They are very self-reflective and can definitely be revisited whenever needed (I think that is such a good idea). Thanks for reading!
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These are brilliant prompts! Even if not for writing, just to self-reflect and critically assess myself… I shall have to share this on! xx
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Thank you! I am so glad that these will prove useful!
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Good post! I second everything you said about writing prompts. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you so much!
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This is great. I love that you included the importance of reflecting on our own lives, the bias that we grew up with and the privileges that we have been given. Self-reflection is an important part of bringing about change in our world.
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It really is so important to self-reflect while being an ally, otherwise we cannot really engage with the changes being worked towards. Thanks for reading!
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This is a wonderful post on such an important topic! I love your prompts and I’m so glad I took the time to read this 🙂
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Thanks so much for reading!
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I loved these prompts! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a writing prompts post done on allyship, so kudos to you. I definitely agree that we have to stand up for what is right. And I love that you took your time to come up with these writing prompts to help us all reflect! Thanks for sharing them and being so thoughtful! x
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Thank you — I really wanted to delve into allyship in fresh and new ways. It’s so important to self-reflect anyway but to turn it to looking at our motivations and roles as allies felt important. I appreciate your comment!
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These are really thought provoking prompts! Thanks a lot for sharing; might use these some time x
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Thank you — I hope they prove useful!
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Great post and amazing prompts! This is so important right now. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you so much, I’m so glad you liked them!
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Great thought provoking writing prompts. I’ll be sharing this post with my mum as shes wanting some writing skills
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Thank you — I hope your Mum enjoys using them!
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