What We Did Then — We Must Do Now
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr., Publisher, Westside Gazette
As Black History Month comes to a close, the question before us is not what we celebrated — but what we are willing to continue.
In February, we quote Dr. King. We honor Rosa Parks.
We post grainy black-and-white photos of marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
We sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
But in March — what do we do?
During the Civil Rights Movement, our people did not simply commemorate history — we made it. And we made it through discipline, unity, sacrifice, economic strategy, faith, and relentless civic engagement.
If we stop practicing those same principles today, we risk losing everything they bled to build.
- We Organized — Not Occasionally, But Relentlessly
The movement was not spontaneous emotion. It was organized strategy.
From the Montgomery Bus Boycott to voter registration drives across the South, Black people met in churches, living rooms, barbershops, and newspaper offices. Plans were mapped out. Roles were assigned. Communication was deliberate.
Organizations like the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee did not wait for permission. They built structure.
Today, we have social media outrage — but do we have sustained structure?
Are we building institutions, or just trending for 24 hours?
If we do not organize with intention, our influence will evaporate with the algorithm.
- We Practiced Economic Discipline
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days. Think about that.
Not 38 days. Not 38 hours. 381 days of coordinated sacrifice.
Black communities understood that economic power is leverage. They practiced selective buying long before it became a hashtag. They supported Black-owned businesses and Black newspapers because they understood narrative and economics are twins.
Today, we say “Buy Black” — but do we do it consistently?
Do our fraternities, sororities, churches, civic groups, and professional associations have mandates to support Black media and Black enterprise?
If we don’t circulate the dollar among ourselves, we weaken our negotiating position in every other arena.
- We Showed Up — At the Polls and in the Streets
During Reconstruction, Black men ran for office under threat of death.
During Jim Crow, citizens faced literacy tests and violence just to register.
During the 1960s, young people were beaten for sitting at lunch counters.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was not gifted. It was extracted.
Yet today, confusion, apathy, misinformation, and quiet disengagement threaten that hard-earned access.
If we do not vote consistently, educate ourselves on policy, and hold elected officials accountable — not just during presidential years — we surrender ground.
Rights unused are rights eventually removed.
- We Centered the Church and Moral Authority
The Civil Rights Movement was spiritual before it was political.
From pulpits across America, ministers framed the struggle not as partisan — but as moral. The movement spoke the language of justice rooted in scripture and constitutional promise.
It was not prosperity preaching.
It was prophetic preaching.
If today we avoid difficult conversations in our sacred spaces — about justice, inequity, mass incarceration, immigration, economic exploitation — we lose the moral clarity that once guided us.
The church must not become comfortable while the community is uncomfortable.
- We Told Our Own Story
The Black Press was essential to the movement. When mainstream outlets ignored our pain or distorted our protests, Black newspapers documented truth.
We were the archive. We were the amplifier. We were the shield.
Without independent Black media, many of the injustices that stirred the nation would have remained buried.
If we allow Black media to weaken through neglect, we surrender control of our narrative.
And a people without control of their narrative become characters in someone else’s script.
The Danger of Commemoration Without Continuation
Black History Month should not be a museum exhibit. It should be a strategy session. Our ancestors did not march so we could merely remember.
They marched so we could remain vigilant. They did not endure fire hoses so we could become comfortable.
They endured so we could become courageous.
They did not organize so we could relax. They organized so we could continue.
If we stop organizing…If we stop buying strategically…If we stop voting consistently…
If we stop supporting Black institutions…
We will not lose everything at once. We will lose it slowly. Quietly. Incrementally.
And one day we will look up and realize the freedoms we assumed were permanent were only preserved by participation.
This Is Not a Time to Retreat
As we move beyond February, the question is simple:
Will we practice what we praise? Will we discipline our dollars? Will we protect our vote? Will we strengthen our institutions? Will we mentor our youth into leadership? Will we support the Black Press not just with applause — but with subscription and advertisement?
Our history teaches us this: Progress is not self-sustaining. It must be defended.
Black History Month is ending. The work is not.
And as we often say at the Westside Gazette: We are deeply rooted — and we shall not be moved.
But roots only matter if we continue to grow.
