Vintage cars, street vendors and double-decker buses parading down Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in South Los Angeles Monday morning lent a festive air to the annual event in honor of the slain civil rights leader’s birthday.

But the day’s theme, “The dream continues to live and grow,” made it clear that it was more than just a birthday party.

Channeling King Jr.’s call for civil rights and equality, many of the participants of the parade were advocating for a cause.

The Los Angeles Unified School District was promoting the importance of education with its banner, “Stay late and graduate.” The Boy Scouts of America encouraged their audience to “celebrate the adventure, continue the journey.”

In addition to those who marched in the parade, numerous signature-gatherers were circulating along the route with petitions in hopes of catching people in a proactive mood. The petitions ranged from ending death penalty to reinstating gay marriages.

Also seen along the route were T-shirts and posters depicting King Jr. Many featured quotes, some bore his likeness and others had messages that echoed the dream.

The day was full of chants and exhortations.

Marchers with Good Jobs LA, a nonprofit grassroots organization aiming to hold corporations responsible for their actions, chanted, “Banks get bailout, we get sold out!”

Supporters of the Here to Stay Coalition were vocalizing their vision of “Black and gay and here to stay!” All along the parade route, these and other interpretations of King Jr.’s dream were brought to bear.

Herman Howell, a retired Los Angeles Police Department patrol officer who came out to watch the parade, recalled seeing King Jr. in person in the 1950s.

“He always called himself the drum major for civil rights,” Howell said. “He was a nice person, a very nice person.”

There was no shortage of actual drum majors at this year’s parade. Band drum majors of varying ages were present as most of the public schools in the area came out to perform in order to support Martin Luther King Jr. Garfield High School, Crenshaw High School and dozens of others marched.

Drill teams, African-American fraternities and sororities and even anchor Marc Brown from ABC Eyewitness News came out to join the festivities.

“The reason why I like this parade is because it is diversified,” Howell said. “Politicians, schools and all these different blends and mixtures of groups are here.”

The Community Coalition, one of the last participants in the parade, had a banner that read, “Occupy King’s Dream.” Its people were shouting, “King’s dream, our dream.”

 

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Contact staff writer Sammi Wong here.