On Feb. 3, 1870, Congress ratified the 15th Amendment, promising universal suffrage to all Black men for the first time in American history. Here in New York, in the very neighborhood of WNYC’s Greene Space, the Black community united to organize a parade that celebrated a multiracial democracy. A journalist captured the participation of the neighborhood’s tenement dwellers who hung American flags with banners out their windows featuring mottos: “Out of Egypt Have I Brought My Children,” “Impartial Suffrage to All”, and “By the Bullet We Gained the Ballot.”

This program takes its point of departure from this parade and the discussion among the community in the aftermath, to frame a conversation on the 15th Amendment and voting rights, and more broadly, hope, challenge and progress in American democracy. Anna Deavere Smith brings to life the words of 19th century Black New Yorkers and WNYC’s Michael Hill moderates a conversation with historians Leslie Harris, Jelani Cobb and Annie Polland.

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A video livestream of the event is available to watch here.