(NNPA)—In a previous article, I noted the ridiculous scenario of Black people protesting while others profited, how we travel across the nation to march and never march into a Black hotel, a Black restaurant, or to a Black-owned bus company to get to the march, or fill up at a Black-owned gas station. I ended that column by noting that we count people “at” our protests while others count profits “from” our protests. Through the years I have wondered when we would “get it.” It took a group of young people who went to Ferguson, Mo. over the Labor Day weekend to encourage me in that regard.
They get it. The Howard University Student Association, led by its incoming president, Leighton Watson, organized a 13-hour bus trip from Washington, D.C. to protest along with other students from Washington University and other colleges. They went to stand with the residents of Ferguson to seek real solutions to the issues that plague that city.
An interesting thing happened on their way to the march. Those young people marched to a Black company to charter their bus. When they got there they marched to a Black restaurant to eat. They made every effort to find a Black-owned hotel, but the Roberts Hotel in St. Louis is closed. They did, however, manage to get accommodations at a Black-owned franchised hotel. They let their money speak as they protested; I even saw a sign that said, “No Justice, No Profit.”
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