NPR: Harlem Hosts First Strokes Of Emancipation

Saturday marks the 150th anniversary of a crucial moment in U.S. history. On Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, announcing his intention to free the slaves in the states rebelling against the Union.

If you look at Lincoln's manuscript closely enough, you can see the effort he put into it, Khalil Gibran Muhammad says. Muhammad directs the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where the manuscript is on display this weekend.

"Even his own struggle — the newspaper clippings cut out here, the scratched-out sentences and trying to figure out what precise language — shows us just how hard it is to do the work of making freedom and democracy real for people. This is one of those transformative moments," he says.