Listening With Conviction

[unspeakablehorror]

It's critically important not to view listening to oppressed people as a passive activity where you simply accept what is said without understanding. You must make an effort to integrate what people say into a cohesive political framework in order to help. Listening requires no less thought than speaking, and sometimes considerably more. Additionally, when it comes to standing up for oppressed people, it's necessary to take a position based on more than what the first (or last) oppressed person to voice an opinion around you says. Because the people you happen to encounter are not going to reflect everyone's opinion in a given group. And because you need to have more than knowledge to take a stand; you also need to have principles.

If two people from the same group have conflicting opinions (practically inevitable) you have to decide who you are going to back up. You don't need to forever stick with that decision; sometimes new information or further thought can lead you to a different conclusion than your original one. But it's impossible to stand for anything if your opinion changes with the slightest  disagreement to it, regardless of if the person disagreeing is part of the oppressed group you're trying to support. 

There is no substitute for having firm convictions, just as there is no substitute for getting the perspectives of the oppressed. You need both to have a political position of any integrity.