Thousands Of Angelenos Celebrate MLK Day At Parade In Leimert Park

LEIMERT PARK (CBSLA.com) — Thousands of people lined the streets of Leimert Park Monday to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. during the 31st annual Kingdom Day Parade.

Los Angeles Councilman Curren D. Price Jr. served as grand marshal of the parade, which is billed as the nation's biggest celebration of the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader. He called the parade "a celebration of promise and hope of a better tomorrow."

The two-mile procession began at 10:15 a.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Arlington Avenue and ended near the historical Leimert Park Village.

The Community Coalition community organization had a float with two black and brown fists, with broken chains and shackles, representing South L.A.'s' black and Latino residents affected by slavery and mass incarceration.

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 float was meant to mark the 60th anniversary of Parks' arrest and the subsequent bus boycott, which became a catalyst of the movement, according to a Metro official.

The parade's theme this year was "Our Work Is Not Yet Done"

"We all have to work together and still work together," said one parade-goer.

Another said: "Just everybody getting together and just enjoying this day as Martin Luther King's birthday, celebrating it, really just having a good time out here."