By: Terry Allen
“Dignity is fighting weakness and winning.” — attributed to Lola Falana
Big Mama didn’t originate those words. They are attributed to the legendary entertainer Lola Falana. But Big Mama taught me what those words look like when you have to live them.
Because dignity isn’t pretending weakness doesn’t exist. Dignity is identifying it, isolating it, confronting it—and improving.
That brings me to Stephen A. Smith and the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2026 Thumbs Down Award.
First, understand the assignment.
NABJ’s Thumbs Down Award isn’t new, nor was it invented for Stephen A. Smith. NABJ says it dates to 1989 and has been issued 44 times to Black and non-Black individuals and institutions whose reporting, commentary or practices conflicted with the organization’s mission and values.
This year Smith was one of five recipients, alongside CBS News, The Washington Post, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and media executive DuJuan McCoy.
NABJ cited what it described as Smith’s “recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media.” The organization’s president, Errin Haines, pointed to controversies involving Kamala Harris, Jasmine Crockett and Joy-Ann Reid as examples of the broader concern.
Those are the receipts NABJ put on the table.
Smith has receipts of his own. He argues that he has spent his life supporting Black women, says Black women have been central to his success and rejects NABJ’s characterization of him.
Fair enough.
Bring all the receipts.
But here is where Big Mama would interrupt the argument.
When somebody points out smoke, you don’t burn down the village trying to prove there isn’t a fire. You inspect the house.
Smith called the award a political and personal “hit job.” He has every right to defend himself, challenge NABJ’s evidence, question its process and demand fairness.
But accountability offers more choices than attack and denial.
Accept. Defend. Clarify. Correct. Improve.
That’s what makes the Thumbs Down Award potentially valuable. It shouldn’t be a permanent label attached to somebody’s forehead. It should be a tag for change—an observation that says something may be hidden in plain sight and deserves examination.
Haines has essentially said the same thing: the goal isn’t permanent condemnation. The goal is progress.
Now we’re talking.
Because accountability isn’t cancellation.
And disagreement isn’t destruction.
Stephen A. Smith has built a platform by challenging athletes, coaches, executives, politicians and institutions to answer uncomfortable questions. Sometimes loudly.
So here’s one for him:
When the uncomfortable question is about you, does the standard change?
The bigger the microphone, the greater the responsibility to hear something we don’t want to hear.
That applies to Smith.
And it applies to NABJ.
If NABJ got something wrong, correct it. If the evidence is incomplete, challenge it. If politics influenced the process, prove it. Accountability must travel in both directions.
But don’t destroy the mirror simply because you don’t like the reflection.
Repair the breach.
That’s the lesson.
NABJ is a 51-year-old organization born because Black journalists needed advocacy, opportunity, representation and a collective voice. Stephen A. Smith is one of the Black voices in American media.
Imagine what could happen if this moment became less about who won the fight and more about what we learned from it.
I salute the NABJ Thumbs Down Award for keeping the mirror in the room.
Not because NABJ is always right.
Not because Stephen A. Smith is always wrong.
But because our institutions must be willing to identify behavior they believe deserves examination—even when the person being examined is powerful, popular, highly paid and looks like us.
And Stephen A. Smith now has an opportunity even bigger than defeating his critics.
Earn the Thumbs Up.
Imagine that headline.
Stephen A. Smith listened. He challenged what was wrong. He acknowledged what was right. He repaired what needed repairing. And he emerged stronger.
That’s not weakness.
That’s transformation.
So perhaps Lola Falana’s words leave Stephen—and every one of us—with Big Mama’s question:
When somebody exposes our weakness, do we fight the person who exposed it, or do we fight the weakness?
Fame can make the mirror uncomfortable. Influence can make accountability inconvenient. And yes, a mighty paycheck can make any of us ask whether protecting the platform has become more important than protecting the principles that helped us reach it.
But don’t burn down the village.
Repair the breach.
Thank you, Lola Falana, for the words.
Thank you, NABJ, for keeping accountability on the table.
And Stephen A., here’s hoping the next chapter isn’t another Thumbs Down.
Earn the Thumbs Up.
Because Big Mama Said, “Dignity is fighting weakness and winning.”
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
