NEW YORKERS came out in the thousands for the "End Stop-and-Frisk Silent March Against Racial Profiling" on June 17. A multiracial procession of about 15,000 people stretched for nearly 25 blocks down New York City's Fifth Avenue.

Spearheaded by the NAACP and National Action Network, and endorsed by dozens of labor unions, activist groups, civil rights organizations, cultural groups, and community and religious organizations, the march brought together a diverse group united in its opposition to the racist policies and practices of the New York Police Department.

According to the NAACP, the march was silent "as an illustration of both the tragedy and serious threat that stop-and-frisk and other forms of racial profiling present to our society. The silent march was first used in 1917 by the NAACP--then just eight years old--to draw attention to race riots that tore through communities in East St. Louis, Illinois, and build national opposition to lynching."