Our Voices: Celebrating Women- They do so much

By: Bobby Henry, Sr.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we honor the resilience, brilliance, and unwavering courage of women especially Black women who have long been the backbone of justice, progress, and change. Their sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs have shaped history, often without the recognition they deserve.

To be a Black woman is to carry the burden of leadership while being disrespected, dismissed, and overlooked. It is to fight for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, even when those who benefit from that fight refuse to acknowledge the price that has been paid. Black women have endured the deepest injustices of violence, exploitation, and erasure yet they have refused to be broken. They have been expected to mother the world while being denied the dignity of their own humanity. And still, they rise.

From the stolen wombs of enslaved women to the civil rights marches, from the ballot box to the boardroom, Black women have led even when they were told to follow. When others showed cowardice, they stood firm. When others surrendered, they fought harder. When others sought silence, they spoke out.

Fannie Lou Hamer declared, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Yet, she kept fighting. Harriet Tubman told us, “Come on to freedom or stay here and die.” And she led hundreds to liberation. Angela Davis refused to accept what she could not change; she changed what she could not accept.

These women and so many others remind us, “that the way to right wrongs is to shine the light of truth upon them”, as Ida B. Wells declared. They teach us that freedom is not given but demanded, that justice is not a gift but a right, and that leadership is not bestowed but seized.

Black women have never waited for a seat at the table. They have built their own tables. They have defied oppression, rewritten history, and shaped the future. They are the very definition of courage.

This Women’s History Month, we do not just celebrate Black women, we commit to uplifting, honoring, and following their lead. Because when they rise, we all rise.

I want to express my deep gratitude for all the women, especially Black women, who have sacrificed and fought for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Their leadership, despite being disregarded and undervalued, is remarkable. Black women have overcome immense struggles, yet continue to rise, unbowed by hardship. Empowered by giants like Ida B. Wells, Harriet Tubman, and Angela Davis, they’ve led movements, demanding justice with unyielding courage.

It’s their persistence that moves us forward, inspiring change and liberation.

Bobby Henry, Sr. is the publisher of the Westside Gazette and chair of the National Newspaper Publishers Association-NNPA