Silent Protest Parade in New York City Draws 10,000 Black Marchers

On July 28, 1917, approximately 10,000 Black New Yorkers marched silently down Fifth Avenue to protest the East St. Louis massacre, in which white mobs killed dozens of Black residents, and the broader epidemic of anti-Black violence. Organized by the NAACP and community leaders, marchers carried signs reading 'Mr. President, Why Not Make America Safe for Democracy?' It was one of the earliest large-scale civil rights demonstrations in American history.