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The NAACP’s Silent Protest Parade, also known as the Silent March, was held on 5th Avenue in New York City on Saturday, July 28, 1917, and was spurred by violence toward African Americans and race riots and outages in Waco, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and East St. Louis, Illinois. Typical of this unrest was the East St. Louis Race Riot, also called the East St. Louis Massacre, which drove almost 6,000 blacks from their burning homes, and left hundreds of blacks dead. James Weldon Johnson, then second vice president of the NAACP, became involved in that organization’s reaction to the violence in East St. Louis. He was present when a number of organizations met at St. Philips Church in New York City to plan protest strategies. The group rejected the idea of a mass protest meeting in favor of a Silent Protest Parade.

The idea of a silent parade was first raised at the NAACP’s Amenia, New York, Conference in August 1916 by Oswald Garrison Villard, when the association considered a protest for the rights of blacks. Now Johnson remembered Villard’s call and suggested a silent parade to protest the current racial crisis in East St. Louis. As the NAACP’s executive committee planned the march, they agreed that it would be an activity involving New York City’s black citizens rather than the work of the association. Then a large committee comprised of pastors of leading churches and influential men and women was formed. The parade down 5th Avenue moved from 57th Street to Madison Square and brought out 9,000 to 10,000 blacks who marched silently to what Johnson called “the sound only of muffled drums.” Children, some less than six years old and dressed in white, led the procession. Women—some of them aged—dressed in white followed, and men—some also aged—in dark suits brought up the rear. The marchers carried protest banners and posters proclaiming the purpose of the demonstration. The protesters also distributed circulars to the crowds that explained why they marched. “We march because we are thoroughly opposed to Jim Crow cars, … segregation, discrimination, disfranchisement, lynching, and the host of evils that are forced on us” is an example of what they displayed. Of the affair, Johnson wrote in his auto-biography, “The streets of New York have witnessed many strange sites, but, I judge, never one stranger than this; certainly, never one more impressive. The parade moved in silence and was watched in silence. Among the watchers were those with tears in their eyes.”

The NAACP stages a Silent Protest Parade in New York City on July 28, 1917 (Fisk University).

Jessie Carney Smith