Beyond Allyship: Building Durable Solidarity Networks for Justice and Transformation
In a time of intensifying backlash against racial equity, inclusion, and social transformation, the need for deep, sustained solidarity has never been more urgent. But building solidarity is more than showing up for a protest or signing onto a statement - it requires networks that are intentional, relational, and resilient across time and difference.
This was the heart of a recent CHOIR Conversation, where members of the nINA Collective’s community explored the question: What does it really take to build and sustain a solidarity network? Participants reflected not just on strategy, but on the emotional, cultural, and relational infrastructure required to move from symbolic support to shared power.
What Makes a Solidarity Network?
What distinguishes a solidarity network from a coalition or working group is its emotional durability. They are made of people and organizations committed to the practice of showing up for one another in material ways that redistribute risk, power, and resources. It’s not just a structure - it’s a set of commitments between people who agree to be in it for the long haul. That means centering healing, accountability, and mutual aid, not just outcomes.
One speaker asked:
“What does it mean to stay when things get hard? To not disappear when the work doesn’t feel good or when you’re not being praised?”
Key characteristics of effective solidarity networks include:
Relational Trust: Not transactional, but transformational. They are built through intentional, relational practices
Shared Risk: It’s not real solidarity if only some are exposed to harm. True networks involve a willingness to take risks together.
Ongoing Practice: Solidarity is not a one-time action; it’s an ongoing discipline.
Shared Leadership: In movements that value justice, many of us have been conditioned to believe we must always have the answer, but in solidarity networks, that responsibility is distributed. As one speaker asked, “what do you do when you’re not the center of the story anymore? When your value isn't based on being the expert, but on how you relate to others?”
Practices That Support Solidarity
Participants offered several concrete practices that have supported their work in building authentic, sustainable networks of solidarity:
Deep Listening: Not just hearing, but pausing long enough to be changed by what others are saying.
Tending to Conflict: Rather than avoiding tension, participants described practices that “treat conflict as a teacher”—an invitation to deepen relationship.
Slowness as Strategy: In a fast-paced world, solidarity requires slowing down to build with intention. “Some of the best breakthroughs come after we’ve taken the time to rest and reflect together.”
Create Containers for Co-Creation: Solidarity doesn’t happen in isolation. It needs space to grow—through gatherings, circles, campaigns, and learning experiences.
Practice Mutual Accountability: Accountability in solidarity is not about punishment - it’s about being in right relationship. Networks thrive when there is space for reflection, feedback, and repair. “You have to be able to reflect on your own social location and history before you can really be in authentic solidarity with someone else. That’s where it starts” one participant shared.
Build with Those Most Impacted: Centering the leadership of those most affected by injustice ensures that strategies are grounded, relevant, and liberatory.
The session also highlighted the danger of speed in movement spaces. “Urgency can be a trauma response,” one person noted, encouraging the group to see rest and deliberation as strategic, not indulgent.
Challenges and Tensions
Of course, building solidarity is not without friction. The conversation surfaced some key tensions that practitioners regularly navigate:
Speed vs. Sustainability: Movements often want to move fast, but solidarity requires time.
Visibility vs. Integrity: Public statements are easy. Quiet, sustained commitments are harder.
Good Intentions vs. Real Impact: Wanting to help is not the same as being helpful. Participants emphasized the importance of humility, listening, and letting go of control.
Final Thoughts: Solidarity as a Way of Life
Solidarity is not an add-on—it is a way of being. It challenges individualism, invites interdependence, and insists on our shared future. At a time when so many systems are breaking, solidarity networks offer something different: a way to build power with, not power over. They are both shield and sanctuary.
True solidarity isn’t spontaneous. It’s built: slowly, relationally, and strategically. It requires people to build muscle around conflict, reflection, and mutual responsibility. As the conversation made clear, it’s not always easy - but it is essential. These networks and relationships become the scaffolding that allows communities to survive crisis, organize transformation, and imagine another way.
If you're curious about what it takes to build this kind of network, we invite you to join us. Each month, the nINA Collective hosts CHOIR Conversations to explore the practices, possibilities, and people making solidarity real.
→ Join our Community of Practice and be part of the next CHOIR Conversation.
