A Message From The Publisher
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr. Publisher, The Westside Gazette
I will digress, for a moment, from writing about my travels and experiences here in Cape Town, South Africa, a land of stunning beauty and abject poverty with a complex history — to share a sobering truth that has followed me across the ocean.
It’s hard to enjoy your vacation when, even as you try to escape politics, the shadow of your country’s turmoil finds you on foreign maternal soil. When you see how the rest of the world perceives the United States not as the “shining city on a hill,” but as a place stumbling over its own arrogance, its racism, its widening political divide and its falling from grace you begin to understand how deep the wound has become.
Leadership or Mockery?
From distant shores, our president’s behavior reads less like leadership and more like a performance; braggadocious, self-congratulatory, and disturbingly entitled. What should be a voice of unity and diplomacy has instead become a foghorn of mockery, a source of international embarrassment. His remarks and policies seem intent on dividing countries along religious and racial lines, poisoning relationships that once stood on mutual respect.
On the wharf and conversations here in Cape Town, I’ve noticed people talk about America not with admiration but with caution. One gentleman from the UK, approached us while we were sitting admiring the view of Table Mountain, and ask, “are you US?” Following our confirmation he in all his pleasantries, reminded us that the world sees Mr. Trump stupidity.” It’s painful to hear, but even more painful to know they aren’t wrong.
The Silence That Speaks Volumes
Just as troubling, I read a recent article by Stacy Brown titled “The Silence of Black Wealth: When the Billionaires Turned Their Backs on the Black Press.” It struck me like a Mike Tyson’s punch to the gut.
While our communities struggle to tell our own stories, those with the means to sustain the institutions that have carried our truth, and life stories, the Black Press — remain quiet. The silence of Black wealth is not neutrality; it’s abandonment. When billionaires who benefited from the fight for equality choose to look away, they weaken the very platforms that first, gave them voice.
Our struggle for equity cannot survive on charity or convenience it requires commitment, conviction, and collective responsibility. The Black Press has always been more than media; it’s the moral mirror of our people. Without it, truth loses its reverberations
The Passing of a Political Era
And as if history itself wanted to remind us of its cycles, we now mark the passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney a man whose legacy, for better or worse, defined an era of power, secrecy, and unyielding conservatism. His departure reminds us that political philosophies come and go, but the moral consequences of leadership last much longer than any term in office.
The Unsettled Soul of a Nation
Adding to that unease, America is once again standing on the threshold of elections. Elections that will decide not only who leads but what kind of nation we want to be. From here in Cape Town, I can’t help but feel a quiet anxiety about the outcome. I see how fragile democracy looks and feel when viewed from across the ocean a system tested by division, misinformation, and indifference.
I worry not just about who will win, but whether we, the people, will lose our sense of purpose in the process.
Looking Back, Looking Within
From the “Door of No Return” on the coast of Ghana to the bustling harbor of Cape Town, Africa boarder by towns struggling with the will to live has shown me both where we came from and where we risk going if we forget who we are. I see nations here still healing from the scars of colonialism yet striving toward shared freedoms and self-definition. And I wonder, how is it that the land once bound by apartheid seems to be searching for healing, while America, supposedly free, grows more fractured every day?
It’s a strange feeling to see your country through the eyes of another world a mirror you can’t turn away from. What I’ve learned here is that leadership without humility breeds division, wealth without conscience breeds silence, and patriotism without accountability breeds decay.
As I continue my travels, I carry home more than souvenirs. I carry a renewed sense of urgency and worth that we must speak truth to power, even when power pretends not to listen. Because if we don’t hold our leaders accountable, we risk becoming complicit in our own undoing.
And so, I return to a principle that has become my guiding light through every storm, TEAMM: Together Each Accomplishes Much More. It’s not just a slogan; it’s a survival plan. America’s healing, our unity, and our hope depend on remembering that we rise or fall together.