Wave Staff Report
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Cedric the Entertainer will serve as grand marshal of the 41st Kingdom Day Parade honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that will be held Jan. 19 along Martin Luther King Jr. and Crenshaw boulevards.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. at the corner of Western Avenue and MLK Boulevard. The parade route follows MLK west to Crenshaw where it turns south, ending in Leimert Park. A festival in Leimert Park will follow the parade.
KABC TV once again will broadcast the parade live.
The parade is being organized this year by Bakewell Media after the Los Angeles Police Commission, which oversees parade permits in the city, accepted Bakewell Media’s application to run the parade over longtime organizer Adrian Dove.
Dove’s original application for the parade permit was denied because it was filed too early, according to Sarah E. Bell, public information director for the Police Commission. When Dove reapplied, he learned that Bakewell Media filed for the permit before he did.
Because both applications proposed parades at a similar time and place, Commission President Maria “Teresa” Sanchez-Gordon designated herself to decide which to approve. Bell said both applications were forwarded with recommendations for approval, but Sanchez-Gordon awarded the permit to Bakewell Media because its filing arrived first.
Dove, who has produced the parade for more than 25 years, appealed the decision nut his appeal was denied last Sept. 22, on a 4-1 vote by the Police Permit Review Panel.
Along with Cedric the Entertainer, the parade will feature elected officials, school marching bands, equestrian units and floats.
It is one of many events being held this weekend to honor King, who would have turned 97 Jan. 15.
Culver City will celebrate King with a program from 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 17 in Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 4117 Overland Ave. The event will feature live entertainment, special guests, exhibits and activities.
The California African American Museum will hold a daylong program Jan. 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. that will feature a a performance by the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles from 2 to 3 p.m., a discussion with the King Study Group from 11 a.m. to noon, family activities, food trucks, and more.
King Day also will include a community service book donation drive with the Los Angeles Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority supporting the Little Free Library at the Crenshaw Family YMCA.
West Hollywood traditionally holds a day of service honoring King’s birthday the Saturday before the national holiday, but this year the day of service has been delayed until Jan. 31. It will feature a beautification day at West Hollywood Elementary School from 9 a.m. to noon.
Martin Luther King Day was declared a national holiday in 1983 when then President Ronald Reagan signed legislation approved by Congress declaring the third Monday of January to be a day to honor King, who was born Jan. 15, 1929.
The first national King Day celebration was in 1986.
The Kingdom Day Parade was started by Larry Grant in San Diego in 1985. He moved the parade to Los Angeles several years later.
Dove assisted Grant in organizing the parade through 2012 when Grant died. Dove then became the primary organizer of the parade.
