NAACP Commemorates 1917 Silent Protest

One hundred years ago, thousands of marchers took to Fifth Avenue in New York City to protest mob justice and the ongoing lynching of black people throughout the country. On Saturday, the Greater New Haven Branch of the NAACP took to the streets of New Haven to mark the occasion — and to demonstrate why the march must continue.

More than 50 people gathered in the Dixwell neighborhood, the historic heart of the city’s African-American community, to commemorate the silent protest parade that the NAACP organized in 1917. The re-enactors marched from the site of the former and future home of the Q House, winding their way past the Shops on Broadway, down Elm Street and to a stage on the upper Green.

During speeches on the Green the names of those lost in unarmed killings by police such as Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Sandra Bland were called. They also made sure to call the name of 14-year-old Tyriek Keyes, who was recently lost to gun violence on the streets of New Haven.

Dori Dumas, the Greater New Haven NAACP Branch president, noted Saturday that just two months ago the branch celebrated its own 100th anniversary. And 100 years ago, just two weeks after the founding of the New Haven branch, the NAACP staged a silent protest that drew thousands of people into a New York street — many of them children and all dressed in their Sunday’s best — holding signs that blasted the hypocrisy of a country that proclaimed to be founded on the equality of men endowed with ​“certain unalienable rights.”

Many of those who helped organize the 1917 march like James Weldon Johnson helped organize the New Haven NAACP branch. And as it was 100 years ago, young people led the marchers through the city on Saturday.

Dumas said though there has been progress, minorities still face problems such as voter suppression, inequality in education and unfair treatment in the justice system. She said marching Saturday was not only an act of commemoration but a reminder that some of the same rights that people struggle for particularly the right to be treated equally under the law is something that is still a struggle for many in the country today.

“We’re still in this struggle and we want to march for those who don’t have a voice to make sure that people are aware that we are paying attention,” she said. ​“We’re not going to let them turn back the clock. It’s time to move forward. We’re so far from where we need to be. We can’t get comfortable.”