Parade honors Dr. King


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The Trojan Marching Band, alongside other USC groups and a slew of local dignitaries, gave performances met with applause and “Fight On” victory signs. (Drake Lee | Daily Trojan)

“THE PARADE WILL GO ON RAIN OR SHINE,” the website declared. “Come and be a part of history.” 

And so it did: The 38th Annual Kingdom Day Parade, hosted by the Congress of Racial Equality of California, was held Monday morning at West Martin Luther King Jr. and Crenshaw Boulevards. 

The event, hailed by the CORE-CA website as “America’s biggest birthday celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King,” honors the pastor and civil rights activist who, in his life, frequently visited USC and its surrounding area — including in 1964, when he spoke to an audience of 15,000 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

This year’s parade was the first since 2020 to be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, after having been canceled or delayed in previous years because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was also the first time in 10 years that USC participated in the festivities.

Despite forecasts of rain clouding the morning of the parade, festivities carried on as planned. Adrian Dove, executive producer of the parade’s broadcast on ABC7 and CEO of the Kingdom Day Parade, said in an interview with the Daily Trojan that he wasn’t going to let the weather ruin this opportunity to honor the late King. 

“Dr. King said that water is a blessing from heaven — we have a shortage of water right now,” Dove said. “He said that even if fire hoses are turned against us, we figure out a way to keep on keeping on.” 

This year’s theme was “Making America The Last Best Hope of The World” in reference to a quote from former President Abraham Lincoln. In an interview with the Daily Trojan Monday, Dove said he witnessed King being asked about this quote in 1965 while King was in South Carolina for a voter registration drive.

“[Lincoln] said, ‘America is the last best hope of the world’ … and 100 years later, somebody asked Martin, ‘Was that statement true?’” Dove said. “He said, ‘It can be. We’re going to fight to make America the last best hope of the world.’”

George C. Fatheree III served as the parade’s grand marshal this year. Fatheree led a team of attorneys to return Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of its original owners, Willa and Charles Bruce, almost 100 years after it was seized by the town of Manhattan Beach under racial animus.

The parade featured performances by local equestrian teams, the Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band, the Kim Eung Hwa & Korean Dance Company, the Crenshaw Christian Center Drill Team and Drumline and Tommy the Clown, who is credited as the creator of the “krumping” dance style.

Adrian Dove, CEO of the Kingdom Day Parade, said he wasn’t going to let the weather ruin this opportunity to honor the late King. “Dr. King said that water is a blessing from heaven,” he said. (Drake Lee | Daily Trojan)

Many local dignitaries also participated in the parade, including United States House Representatives Maxine Waters and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Los Angeles Police Department Chief of Police Michel Moore and Karen Bass, the newly elected Mayor of Los Angeles.

Dignitaries and groups from USC participated in the parade for the first time in 10 years. University President Carol Folt gave a speech at a pre-parade special breakfast. The Trojan Marching Band and the Cardinal Divas — the recently formed USC majorette team that had never previously performed at the parade — both performed for viewers during the parade. Both performances were met with applause and “Fight On” victory signs. 

Alex Delgado, a sophomore studying business administration who plays the tenor saxophone in the Trojan Marching Band, said her participation in this year’s parade felt like a “full-circle” moment. Delgado grew up in South Central and had performed in the same parade when she was in middle school.

“[The parade] means a lot,” Delgado said. “There’s a lot of bands or arts, dance groups from the community performing here, and it’s just really nice to see that celebration.” 

Princess Isis Lang, founder of the Cardinal Divas, said the group’s participation was a “big achievement,” especially having started less than a year ago.

“I’m just so blessed and honored that we get to continue to be in Black spaces and uplift Black spaces, whether we go to a [predominantly white institution] or not,” Lang said.

For all the University’s talk of  diversity, equity and inclusion, Lang said, this was a rare opportunity to finally see it in action.

“Not to toot our own horns or anything, but the Cardinal Divas pushed USC into actually being about the action that they continue to talk about,” Lang said.

Yodi Philipos, acting management for the Divas, said the team currently faces a challenge in the lack of recognition and funding from the University. Philipos, a junior studying environmental studies, said the Divas are entirely self-funded, but a GoFundMe created to help raise money received more than $15,000 in donations at the time of publication.

“The community is just pouring back into us,” Philipos said. 

Princess Isis Lang, founder of the Cardinal Divas, said the group “pushed USC into actually being about the action that they continue to talk about.” (Drake Lee | Daily Trojan)

Lang said it felt “wonderful to really be a part of something fully and have people welcome you with open arms” at the Kingdom Day Parade, alongside other groups that otherwise would not have the opportunity to come together.

“It just felt amazing to have that,” Lang said. “And, hopefully, one day, we can be able to actually be with the [Trojan Marching Band] . . . and be able to do these things together and not separately.”