By: Terry Allen
There is a powerful Ethiopian proverb: “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.”
Big Mama understood that kind of wisdom. One spider web looks fragile and insignificant. But connect enough strands, working together with purpose, and what appeared powerless becomes powerful.
That is the story of voting in America—and especially the Black American experience.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 did not happen because powerful people suddenly decided to share power. Ordinary Americans organized, marched, registered voters and demanded that America honor its promises.
Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi sharecropper, refused to accept that Black citizens should be denied their voices. John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge and was beaten while demanding voting rights. Behind them stood thousands of unnamed people who organized churches, knocked on doors and risked their jobs, safety and lives for the ballot.
Their spider webs united—and changed America.
More than sixty years later, voting remains at the center of national battles. America continues debating congressional maps, voter registration, voter-roll maintenance, identification requirements, ballot access and election procedures. These debates remind us that democracy cannot simply be inherited. Every generation must participate in protecting it.
Too many eligible citizens remain disconnected or discouraged from the voting process. Others simply assume their registration is current.
That is why my family practices something we call “Gimme 5.”
It is simple: I commit to getting five people to vote. Those five reach five more. We confirm registrations, share election information, remind one another about voting dates and encourage each other until the votes are actually cast.
Then we have a party—not to celebrate a candidate or political party, but to celebrate the actual votes cast.
Do the math: one reaches five. Five reach 25. Twenty-five reach 125. Imagine that multiplication happening through families, churches, fraternities, sororities and neighborhoods.
So here is my two-part challenge:
First, confirm that you are registered to vote.
Second, Gimme 5. Activate five voters and challenge each of them to activate five more.
Our ancestors built the web. Now we must strengthen it.
Big Mama said, “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.”
Terry Allen is an NABJ award-winning Journalist, DEI expert, PR professional,
and – Vice President at FocusPR, founder of the charity City Men Cook, and Dallas Chapter President of NBPRS.org
