A Message From The Publisher
25 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. And every city or family that is divided against itself will not survive. Mathew 12:25 ERV
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr., Publisher, Westside Gazette
As Publisher of the Westside Gazette, I have witnessed enough attacks on our communities to recognize a dangerous pattern when I see one. Right now, that pattern is showing itself in the academic arena of our Black universities which are supposed to be the very institutions that have carried us through centuries of exclusion, disrespect, and marginalization.
Instead of unity and vision, we are seeing in-house fighting. Instead of leaders guiding with courage, we are witnessing a hunger for power that mirrors the very political dysfunction we claim to despise. Is it the Donald Trump syndrome that the belief that one person alone can make all the right decisions, and that anyone who questions authority is an enemy?
But this is not just about egos in boardrooms or titles on office doors. This is bigger. Every time we allow leadership battles to devolve into personal vendettas, every time we let our institutions crumble under the weight of selfish ambition, we hand ammunition to those who already don’t believe in us. Not only are THEY NOT LIKE US and THEY DON’T LIKE US. And when they see us turn against ourselves, it affirms their worst assumptions: that we cannot govern, cannot lead, cannot sustain our own progress.
This same spirit of attack is already moving through our institutions of faith, the cornerstone of our communities. And if we’re not vigilant, it will soon come for our media. Our churches, our schools, our newspapers, they are all connected. They are the lungs through which our people breathe truth, hope, and accountability. If one suffocates, the others struggle to survive.
What is most alarming is not just the external threat, but the internal rot. It appears we are beginning not to like ourselves. We are adopting the tactics of those who never wished us well through division, character assassination, power hoarding, and short-term thinking.
We cannot afford this. Our ancestors did not sacrifice, bleed, and build just so we could sabotage ourselves from within. Leadership must be about service, not self. About vision, not vanity. About lifting as we climb, not climbing over one another to sit in the big chair.
If we truly believe in the future of Black universities, Black churches, and the Black press, then we must hold our leaders and ourselves to a higher standard. Not perfection, but principle. Not control, but collaboration. Not ego, but endurance.
The question is simple: will we continue to let leadership battles become our downfall, or will we remember that our strength has always been in our unity?
The Westside Gazette will not stop calling it out. Because if we don’t, who will?
