Dallas activist Jayla J. Allen appears in upcoming documentary ‘All In: The Fight for Democracy.’ Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios
A new documentary about voting rights features the story of one Oak Cliff woman.
In All In: The Fight for Democracy, a documentary coming to Amazon Prime Video, Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, examines voter suppression in the United States. Several activists are featured, including Oak Cliff-based Jayla J. Allen.
Allen is a class of 2019 graduate of Prairie View A&M University, who has has spent years fighting voter suppression.
“When [the producers] reached out and asked me to be a part of it, I was, for one, shocked, being a fresh college graduate at the time,” Allen says. “So for them to have reached out, and for them to follow my work, and to ask me to be a part of such a great film was simply amazing.”
Allen is a member of AmeriCorps City Year. She has also worked as a congressional intern in the U.S. House of Representatives. In college, she was committed to helping students register to vote.
As an activist, Allen has noticed that some small towns limit voting locations, affecting those who don’t have access to transportation.
“A huge part of the documentary is speaking on different ways that voter suppression tactics are used in certain states,” Allen says. “And also in certain areas with mostly people of color.”
Allen calls this “the most important election of some people’s lifetimes.”
Allen is a proponent of voting by mail, which would allow people a safer option.
“The United States needs to make sure that we’re taking the proper precautions to have this available to every citizen,” Allen says. “And to make sure that we have other things put in place to make sure that this election happens in a way that is safe.”
See Allen in All In: The Fight for Democracy, premiering on Amazon Prime Video Friday, Sept. 18.
