"But my best friend is ____!" What if this common phrase was treated as more than an excuse for bigotry, but as an ethical imperative for allyship and activism? Liz and Xine were invited to give their first keynote, "Friendship as Activism," for the Agency and Solidarity Conference at Cornell. We talk respectability politics; our studies, ourselves; diversity, activism, and service in the academy; and self-care and survival. Oh, and the keynote was covered by The Cornell Daily Sun and we were called "race, gender, and sexuality activists." Ha! We wouldn't really describe ourselves that way. Your thoughts? "Graduate Students Urge Activism, Public Service on Campus": http://cornellsun.com/2016/03/15/graduate-students-urge-activism-public-service-on-campus/?platform=hootsuite