A MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr., Publisher
As we embark upon another celebration of Black History, it is both fitting and necessary to pause and reflect on a living chapter of that history, the Westside Gazette, now marking 55 years of continuous service to our community.
This milestone is not simply about longevity. It is about purpose.
For more than five decades, the Westside Gazette has stood at the intersection of community coverage, national recognition, and local responsibility. From city halls to church pews, school board meetings to family reunions, civil rights struggles to cultural celebrations, this newspaper has been a mirror, a megaphone, and a memory keeper for Black life in South Florida and beyond.
But let us be clear and honest about one enduring truth about the history of the Black Press:
Black newspapers have always survived because Black readers believed in them.
From the very first Black newspapers published in America, it was the readership, working people, church folk, families, organizers, educators who kept the presses running. Not corporations. Not political power. The people. That truth remains unchanged today.
At this pivotal moment in the history of Black newspapers, support is not optional, it is essential.
The Westside Gazette has told your stories.
We have announced your graduations, weddings, and homegoings.
We have covered your churches, your children, your neighborhoods, and your victories.
We have challenged power, lifted voices, and preserved truths that might otherwise have been ignored or erased.
And now, we ask respectfully and unapologetically that support for the Black Press not be an afterthought.
Our newspapers should be at the forefront of community support, especially during milestone anniversaries like this one. Subscriptions are not just transactions; they are commitments to visibility, accountability, and legacy.
When you support the Westside Gazette, you are supporting news about you, for you, and because of you.
This 55th anniversary also calls us to honor the shoulders upon which we stand.
We are reminded of the sacrifices made by our parents, Levi and Yvonne Henry, who gave of themselves time, resources, energy, and faith so that this newspaper could exist not only for their generation, but for generations yet unborn. Their vision was not short-term. It was rooted in the “very, very, very deep future.”
As the current keeper and recorder of our history, I offer a heartfelt salute to everyone who has contributed to the Westside Gazette’s journey. To those who have written, advertised, read, debated, prayed for, talked about, supported, and stood with this paper through every season.
This anniversary belongs to you.
Fifty-five years later, the mission remains the same:
We are deeply rooted—and we shall not be moved.
