By: Terry Allen
Big Mama taught me that prayer was never an excuse for standing still. You prayed, you listened, and when God showed you what needed to be done, you got up and moved. That lesson feels especially important right now.
Genesis 12:1 says, “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’” God did not give Abram every detail. He gave him direction. Abram had to provide the movement.
Today, our country is engaged in serious battles over voting rights, representation, education, diversity and economic opportunity. Many Black Americans see troubling parallels between some current policy debates and restrictions our parents and grandparents confronted during the Jim Crow era. Those comparisons deserve careful attention to the specific laws and policies involved, but history gives us one lesson that is not complicated: rights have their greatest power when people exercise them.
That is why Pastor Richie Butler’s Impact Texas 2026 challenge speaks to me. The vision is bold: engage 1,000 churches and encourage eligible members of those congregations to participate in the democratic process. On October 25, the movement is calling churches to participate in Blackout Sunday. Texas’ official election calendar confirms that October 25 falls during early voting for the November 3 general election and is a required Sunday early-voting day in applicable counties.
I describe the idea this way: “Black Friday gets people to the stores. Blackout Sunday gets people to the polls.”
Think about that. When Black Friday comes, folks make plans. We text family members. We tell our friends. We get up early. We know what store we are going to and what we came to get. What would happen if we approached our civic responsibility with that same sense of purpose?
This is not about the church telling anybody who to vote for. It is about making sure people know how to participate, understand the issues, check their registration, know where the polls are and then make their own informed decisions. Democracy requires more than opinions around the dinner table or outrage on social media. Participation is where our voices become action.
Big Mama’s generation understood something we cannot afford to forget. Somebody prayed, marched, organized, registered and sometimes risked everything so that we could walk into a voting booth today.
As I stepped into a new season of service as president of the NAACP Richardson Unit, this message has become personal for me. The NAACP itself has made voter participation a major focus in 2026, including a national voter-mobilization campaign Leadership cannot simply mean holding a title, attending a meeting or sitting at the head of the table. Leadership means moving. I am motivated to help move our community from concern to participation, from conversation to action, and from watching history happen to helping shape it.
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
