By: Terry Allen
Credit: Terry Allen
Big Mama used to say, “Baby, surviving ain’t the same as living—but don’t you dare stop doing either.” Lucille “Big Mama” Allen knew something about endurance. She watched storms come and go, saw systems fail people they were supposed to protect, and still showed up every day with a pot on the stove and a prayer on her lips. Not because life was easy—but because somebody had to keep going.
I’m still standing because we come from people who learned how to stand in the middle of pressure. We survive what tries to break us. We intercede for others even when our own knees are weak. We show up for everybody else while quietly postponing care for ourselves. Big Mama loved our servant hearts—but she was also clear: you can’t pour from an empty cup forever. I have ongoing celebration selfies info with the Honorable Rhetta Bowers and fellow journalist Craig Melvin that just says I am still standing.
Scripture backs her up. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 1:2, KJV). Big Mama believed God cared about the whole person—body, mind, and spirit—not just how much we gave away.
Credit: Terry Allen
Look around right now. In this current climate, people are still doing the work. Food drives popping up in church parking lots and school gyms. Volunteers delivering groceries to seniors who can’t drive anymore. Community health fairs offering blood pressure checks, glucose testing, and basic screenings for folks who can’t afford regular care. People sharing medicine resources, rides to appointments, and quiet cash in envelopes—no applause, no hashtags.
That’s love in action.
But here’s the hard truth Big Mama would not let us dodge: many of the helpers are hurting. Insurance premiums are through the roof. Prescriptions cost more than groceries. Mental exhaustion is real. And we’re living in a political combat zone that treats human beings like line items—protecting the already-privileged while the rest of us fight just to breathe.
Big Mama would pull us close and say, “Still standing doesn’t mean standing still.” Take care of your body. Rest your spirit. Ask for help without shame. Go to the doctor. Take the walk. Say no sometimes. Survival is not selfish— it’s strategic.
But she wouldn’t let us stop there.
Big Mama said, “Keep intervening for the ones who don’t have the power to intervene for themselves.” Speak up. Show up. Share what you have. Stand in the gap. And before you settle in tonight, go check on somebody who doesn’t even know you’re coming.
I challenge you to join me at our Healthy Living event this month—and make sure that while you’re still standing for everybody else, you’re also taking care of yourself.
Terry Allen is an NABJ award-winning Journalist, DEI expert, PR professional, and founder of the charity – Vice President at Focus- PR, Founder of City Men Cook, and Dallas Chapter President of NBPRS.org
