Los Angeles is remembering the life and legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Monday with the 31st Kingdom Day Parade and service events that provide opportunities to give back to the community.
What organizers bill as the nation's biggest celebration of the life and legacy of the slain icon will began Monday morning at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Arlington Avenue. The Kingdom Day Parade included bands and floats.
The Community Coalition community organization sponsored a float with two black and brown fists, with broken chains and shackles, representing South Los Angeles' black and Latino residents affected by slavery and mass incarceration. The float was inspired by the 2014 passage of Proposition 47, which required misdemeanor sentences for certain drug possession and theft crimes and allowed for resentencing for past convictions, according to Sandra Hamada, the coalition's director of youth programs.
Groups marching in the parade included the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, seeking to promote the messages that AIDS is a civil rights issue and access to care and treatment for people with HIV and AIDS should be a universal human right, and the L.A. Tenants Union, promoting the message of "Housing Justice For All!"
Los Angeles Councilman Curren D. Price Jr. served as grand marshal of the parade. Price called the parade "a celebration of promise and hope of a better tomorrow."
Metro's entry in the parade was a replica of the bus Rosa Parks was riding in when she was arrested for refusing to give her seat to a white rider in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. The entry is intended to highlight the role of public transit in the civil rights movement and mark the 60th anniversary of Parks' arrest and the subsequent bus boycott, which became a catalyst of the movement, according to a Metro official. Metro is encouraging parade goers to take the Expo Line to Expo Park/USC or Crenshaw stations.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day also will be marked by observances and service projects in several communities and a festival in Leimert Park Village.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Festival will be held at Crenshaw Boulevard at Vernon Avenue from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will include health and wellness services, employment and veteran services, pet adoptions and spay and neuter services, musical performances and food trucks.
People can also visit a clinic to receive assistance in revising their criminal records under terms of Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2014. Inglewood's 33rd annual commemoration of the life and accomplishments of the slain civil rights leader will begin at 9 a.m. with a commemorative program at The Tabernacle at 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave. There will be performances by local choirs and community groups and speeches by winners of the city's youth speech contest.
A symbolic civil rights march will begin at The Tabernacle at approximately 11 a.m. and head west on Manchester Boulevard to the Forum, where the King Fest will be held with live entertainment. Santa Monica's 31st annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration will begin at 9 a.m. at the Soka Gakkai International Auditorium, 525 Wilshire Blvd. Its theme is "Peace Requires Justice."
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The multi-ethnic, interfaith program will include speeches, inspirational readings and music and dance performances. Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila James Kuehl will be the keynote speaker. A Community Involvement Fair with refreshments and informational displays from a variety of community organizations will follow at the SGI Youth Center at 606 Wilshire Blvd.
A Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast and Celebration will be begin at 8 a.m. at Jackie Robinson Park in Pasadena, with music, dance, food and arts and crafts for children and presentation of awards to finalists of the Martin Luther King Community Coalition Art and Essay Contest.
The California African American Museum in Exposition Park will hold its annual Cake for King community celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The celebration will include a reading of "My Brother Martin"; a gospel performance by the Fernando Pullum Youth Ensemble; historical documentary film screenings on King's legacy and historic speeches; an art workshop where guests can create a linocut image of King; dance performances; and slices of birthday cake.
Pacoima's 28th annual Martin Luther King Celebration will be held from 3- 5 p.m. at the Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church at 11066 Norris Ave.
Congressional representatives will speak about the Voting Rights Act, and Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials will discuss diversity and use-of-force training.
What organizers are billing as the day's largest service event in Los Angeles will take place at Augustus Hawkins High School in South Los Angeles from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There, more than 1,300 volunteers are expected to join members of City Year Los Angeles in painting 135 bright-colored inspiring murals in an effort to create a more vibrant learning environment.
City Year is a national organization in which young people perform a year of service in high-need urban schools.
More than 400 people are expected to come to the Hollywood headquarters of the community service festival organizer Big Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon to count, sort and fold more than 20,000 items of clothing that will be donated to a variety of organizations.
