Big Mama Said: “Be Like Dyson. Flip That Negative Back to Them!”

By Terry Allen

My grandmother, Lucille “Big Mama” Allen (1906–2003), taught me lessons that no university could ever duplicate. One of her greatest was simple: “Flip that negative back on them!” She wasn’t teaching retaliation. She was teaching transformation. Don’t absorb somebody else’s bitterness. Turn rejection into redirection, criticism into improvement, and opposition into opportunity. Let your character speak louder than their accusations.

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson illustrated that wisdom when discussing “NIGGAHDOM” at the Black State of The Union . He challenged the notion that a label historically weaponized against Black people must forever define our humanity. Dyson distinguished the violence of the word from the power of reclaiming identity and solidarity. He reminded us that success doesn’t erase where we came from. He carries the people who believed in him when he had no money, education, or influence. He said, “I’m carrying a whole bunch of NIGGAHS inside of me. Folk who believed in me when I wasn’t nothing. Folk who believed in me when I had no money. Folk that believed in me when I didn’t have no education. And now that I got it, I ain’t going to forget them.That’s what I mean by NIGGAHDOM” That’s flipping the negative!

Today, another battle concerns who gets to tell America’s story. The Trump administration has challenged how the Smithsonian presents American history, arguing that exhibits should reflect a more unified national narrative. Critics warn that these efforts threaten the honest presentation of slavery, racism, and other painful chapters of our history.

The controversy raises a fundamental question: Who gets to decide which American experiences deserve recognition?

From enslaved Africans who built this nation to Black soldiers who defended it, African American history IS American history. The Tuskegee Airmen, Black women mathematicians, civil rights organizers, and generations of unnamed ancestors deserve accurate documentation, not selective remembrance. Big Mama would remind us that nobody can erase what we refuse to forget.

Our responsibility is to preserve family photographs, record oral histories, document military service, support historical institutions, and teach our children the stories textbooks overlook. When historical claims are challenged, answer with evidence. When contributions are minimized, produce the records. When labels are weaponized, examine their origins and refuse their limitations.

Big Mama said, “You don’t have to throw dirt back at somebody who throws dirt on you. Plant something in it and let them watch you grow!”

Flipping the negative doesn’t mean ignoring injustice. It means refusing to surrender our identity to somebody else’s interpretation. Our history is not a liability. It is our inheritance.

Be like Dyson. Flip that negative back to them! Don’t let their negative become your identity. Turn it into your testimony!

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