The 25th annual Kingdom Day Parade, commemorating Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, went off without a hitch in South Los Angeles despite cloudy skies and rain slickened streets.
Other Southland activities planned for what is considered a day of service include school beautification efforts in Van Nuys and East L.A. and a blood drive at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
King's actual birthday is Jan. 15, but the national holiday in his honor is celebrated on the third Monday in January. He would have been 81 this year.
The parade, featuring marching bands, floats and other entertainment, traveled along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Western Avenue, headed west on King Boulevard to Crenshaw Boulevard, then south to Vernon Avenue, where it concluded.
KABC-TV Channel 7 anchor Marc Brown was the grand marshal along with celebrity grand marshal, actress-comedian Niecy Nash, host of the Style Network series "Clean House."
Other participants included Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; City Council members Bernard Parks, Jan Perry and Janice Hahn.
Hahn, a longtime parade participant, told City News Service she has "a real personal connection" to King because of what she called "one of the great moments for our family."
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
In 1961, her late father, longtime Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, was the only elected official to accept a request to greet King when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport for a Southland visit.
In a news conference during that visit, King said he was involved in a "new revolution" that sought "a complete breakdown in segregation," which he predicted would come "within seven to 10 years," and a "completely integrated society."
A group of Los Angeles Dodger minor leaguers taking part in the team's Winter Development Program also participated in the parade.
"The Dodgers are very proud to be a part of the Kingdom Day Parade for the second consecutive year," said team spokesman Josh Rawitch, citing the role played by African American players with the team.
"Dr. King once told Don Newcombe that his efforts and the efforts of Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella helped make his work in the civil rights movement that much easier," Rawitch said.
"Today, we feel it's important that our young prospects understand the importance of Dr. King's success and the role that the Dodger organization played in the integration of baseball more than 60 years ago."
In an attempt to fulfill the goal of having the holiday be a day of service, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was scheduled to join an estimated 200 volunteers in a schoolwide beautification effort at Van Nuys Middle School. A similar effort is planned for Belvedere Middle School in East Los Angeles.
Another service effort is a blood drive at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is also an opportunity to honor "the working men and women in this country," said Hahn, who pointed out that King had gone to Memphis, Tenn., where he was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at age 39, to support striking sanitation workers.
Parks said Martin Luther King Jr. Day "should be a day of celebration," but it is "important to reflect on who Martin Luther King was and what he represented, and understand that, although we celebrate his life one day a year, he provided principles and a legacy that really are tenets to live by every day of your life."
