In “Want a More Just World? Be an Unlikely Ally” Nita Mosby Tyler states that people are tired of fighting for justice. People are tired of fighting the injustices that they face in the same way over and over again only to get the same (lack of) results. Tyler explains that in order for real change to happen, justice needs unlikely allies because that makes the fight more compelling. She suggests that people who experience injustice need to be willing to accept the help from unlikely allies so that others will be inspired to become unlikely allies too.

The NPR podcast “The Air We Breathe: Implicit Bias and Police Shootings” discusses how everyone has an implicit bias that acts as an internal cultural thumbprint. Implicit biases are developed based on the environment we live in, our experiences, and the behaviors we witness. The mind of the individual is shaped by the community and the community is shaped by the individual’s minds. We all have implicit bias yet our behavior does not always have to demonstrate this implicit bias. Implicit biases can be hidden by exerting conscious control over one’s own thoughts and actions. 

These two pieces are related because it takes conscious effort to get involved in something that does not clearly involve you. A heterosexual white man is not predisposed to be concerned with the injustices faced by women, people of color, or members of the LGBTQ+ because those injustices have no immediate effect on him. In order for an unlikely ally to fight injustice, that unlikely ally must exert conscious effort to overcome their implicit biases and become concerned with the issues that his actions have yet to demonstrate concern for.

I could implement Tyler’s ideas in my own life by researching ways in which I can help fight injustice and be an unlikely ally. I could implement ideas from the NPR podcast in my own life by being more aware and cautious of my thoughts and actions and analyzing them to see where and when implicit bias occurs; then use conscious effort to control and shift my thoughts and actions. The only way in which these pieces have shifted my thinking about being involved in social justice issues that are not about me is by emphasizing the importance and impact of unlikely allies in the rate that justice occurs.