Google shared a doodle to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Silent Parade.

On 28th July 1917, around 8000 to 10,000 people gathered in New York City to demonstrate silently against the racism,
attrocities and violence directed towards African Americans across the country.

The parade was a result of several recent lynchings in Waco and Memphis, but it was triggered by the St. Louis riots in May and July 1917 where at least 40 black people were killed by white mobs who had been whipped into a frenzy by labor unions in order to resist strike breaking efforts. The brutality of the attacks by mobs of white people and the refusal by the authorities to protect innocent lives contributed to the responsive measures taken by some African Americans in St. Louis
and the nation.

As per reports, for 24 hours, white mobs burned homes and killed any black person they could find, regardless of age, gender or ability.



The demonstration was organized by the NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People) which is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as a bi-racial organization to
advance justice for African Americans.

They hoped to influence Democratic President Woodrow Wilson to carry through on his election promises to African American voters
to implement anti-lynching legislation, and promote Black causes. Wilson did not do so and repudiated his promises.
Federal discrimination against African Americans increased during Wilson's presidency.

The New York Times praised the silent parade the following day:

To the beat of muffled drums 8,000 ne*** men, women and children marched down Fifth Avenue yesterday in a parade of
"silent protest against acts of discrimination and oppression" inflicted upon them in this country, and in other parts
of the world. Without a shout or a cheer they made their cause known through many banners which they carried, calling
attention to "Jim Crowism," segregation, disenfranchisement, and the riots of Waco, Memphis, and East St. Louis.

The Silent Parade is considered to be a significant event in the civil rights movement and is the first mass demonstration
by Amfrican Americans.