How to Be an Effective Ally: When Supporting a Movement Means Following not Leading - Ashton R. Cooper

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/how-to-be-an-effective-ally-when-supporting-a-movement-means-following-not-leading-ashton-r-cooper/

What does it mean to support a movement without making yourself the center of it? Dr. Ashton R. Cooper examines this question through his research on White activists who participated in the Black-led Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. His work challenges the assumption that meaningful contribution always requires taking charge, showing how people can often serve a movement best by listening, learning, and following the leadership of those most affected.

Ashton R. Cooper is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education at the University of Cincinnati. His research explores leadership, followership, and social justice in education, including how people build coalitions and disrupt harmful systems through reciprocal, community-centered approaches. His recent work, “Antiracist Followership: Rethinking Social Justice Leadership in Education,” examines how role flexibility can reshape our understanding of influence and responsibility.

You’ll learn:

• Why allyship sometimes requires stepping back rather than taking the lead 
• What White activists in the Civil Rights Movement reveal about responsible support 
• How people with privilege can contribute without centering themselves 
• Why listening to affected communities is essential for meaningful action 
• How leadership roles can shift depending on context, experience, and need 

Episode References

• Ashton R. Cooper (2024) Antiracist followership: rethinking social justice leadership in education, Whiteness and Education, DOI: 10.1080/23793406.2024.2433952 
• Helena Liu, Redeeming Leadership: An Anti-Racist Feminist Intervention. Bristol University Press, 2021
  https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/redeeming-leadership
• Robert M. McManus and Gama Perruci, Understanding Leadership: An Arts and Humanities Perspective, Routledge, 2015
  https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Leadership-arts-humanities-perspective/dp/0415728738 
• Say Burgin, Organizing Your Own: The White Fight for Black Power in Detroit, NYU Press, 2024
  https://nyupress.org/9781479814145/organizing-your-own/

Connect with Ashton Cooper

Email: ashton.cooper@uc.edu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashton-cooper-phd-13595816/