From Protest to Power: Why It’s Time to Move from Civil Rights to Silver Rights

We marched. We bled. We won.

We integrated the schools, the lunch counters, and the buses. We made America live up to its promise—at least on paper. But now, nearly 60 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, too many Black folks in Detroit and cities like it are still trapped in poverty, priced out of opportunity, and locked out of ownership.

It’s time to say it plainly: Civil rights got us access. But only “silver rights” will secure our future.

Silver rights are about more than equality—they’re about equity.

They mean land. Business. Media. Banks. Homes. Contracts. Patents. They mean economic power rooted in self-determination, not dependency. And let’s be clear—this was always part of the dream. Dr. King didn’t die in Selma. He died in Memphis—standing with sanitation workers demanding fair pay and organizing the Poor People’s Campaign. His last chapter was about silver.

Detroit is the perfect stage for this pivot. We’ve been at the forefront before. We built Motown. We built the labor movement. We built the auto industry—and yes, we built Black Bottom before it was bulldozed for freeways and false promises. Now, it’s our time again—not just to rebuild, but to own the blueprint.

That means cities must stop just celebrating Black businesses during Black History Month and start investing in them every month. It means procurement contracts, tax breaks for community-owned development, and restoring the land lost to “urban renewal.” It means treating Black media—like Courageous Detroit Network—not as a token voice, but as a vital force for narrative power.

Too often, we win moral victories while losing economic battles. That must change.

We don’t just need allies—we need assets.

We don’t just need apologies—we need ownership.

We don’t just need speeches—we need equity.

Let me say it like this: We got the right to sit at the lunch counter.

Now it’s time to own the restaurant, franchise the brand, and feed our own.

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Let’s build a future that moves beyond protest—and into power.

- The Man with the Hat