By Terry Allen
One of the greatest lessons taught to me from Lucille “Big Mama” Allen’s playbook became a common saying in the family.
My grandmother consistently and quietly challenged mental laziness and spiritual inactivity. She steadfastly believed that no one in her household should ever stop helping others, even when they only had meager means themselves.
Big Mama would stop you dead in your tracks to ask you, “Who did you bless today?”
Then she would thank you with a special hug and visual recognition among your peers. Why? Big Mama knew that special recognition would also spark replication!
If one of us received her public recognition, it would make each of us seek, find and give blessings to someone in our proximity. Big Mama knew that this process would create the right activity. She knew we would do what God called us all to do — send Blessings to others through our words and deeds.
What I know for sure, is that doing things like actively loving others with our words and deeds, as God calls us to, helps us have an accurate view of ourselves. Serving others can actually contribute to our own well-being and thus remove opportunity for negative thoughts and non-productive behavior.
Big Mama would share the struggles of our uncles, aunts and “cousins” just to remind us how the doors that we walk into were once closed before!
I did not understand at the time what she was teaching yet I use it now! When Miss Lucille shared, she taught us lessons on perseverance, fortitude, making-do and the existence of our own cultural self-hatred.
That lesson became clear recently when one of my colleagues and organizational peers approached me privately and verbally told me I was ‘in the way of progress’ yet offered no real measures of proof of this accusation.
The call came with no emails, no proof, no sharing, just a verbal accusation that floored me emotionally, spiritually and actually made me physically ill for three days.
I shared that with a few others, and they recalled my work, the recorded videos, the peer- to-peer testimonials and the multiple success stories and outcomes.
All of a sudden, I saw the boomerang effect that Big Mama spoke of!
My good friend and mentor, CEO Ron Carter’s words he always says, “Speak Truth to Power!’
All of a sudden, the blessings boomeranged back to me.
In another Big Mama-ism, I can hear Big Mama saying, “See Baby Boy, what the devil meant for evil, God meant for good.”
I love boomerangs and blessings! Can you share yours with me at Terryallenpr@gmail.com
Terry Allen is an NABJ award-winning Journalist, PR professional and founder of 1016 Media, the charity - City Men Cook and Chapter President of NBPRS-DFW
