Martin Luther King Jr.'s life celebrated in South Los Angeles parade
LA Daily News | By Mariecar Mendoza_500.jpg)
More than 200,000 people lined Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on what felt like a summer day for the 28th annual Kingdom Day Parade to honor the revered civil rights leader.
Honoring King with the parade "started out as being focused on black liberation, but it's grown to involve everybody because until everybody is free, nobody is free," said Adrian Dove, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, the third oldest civil rights group in the United States and organizer of the annual parade through South Los Angeles.
"This is what Dr. King preached," Dove said, "so we're trying to keep doing whatever it is we think he'd do if he was still here to ensure his dream comes to fruition."
Among one of the inspiring mobile displays included a double-decker bus that read: "Life's most urgent and persistent question is: What are you doing for others?"
The quote by King is what Donate Life California and OneLegacy hopes will spur more minorities to sign up as donors. The "Get On Board Donate Life" bus - carrying transplant recipients, donor family members, living donors, wait-list candidates and healthcare providers - is a collaboration between the nonprofit organ and tissue registry and nonprofit organ and tissue recovery agency.
"I feel that I am answering that question with my mission to save lives," said Granada Hills resident Elsa Arana through a Spanish translator.
Arana is the mother of Marco Arana, Jr. who died in a 2006 car crash at age 28. Her son's kidney was donated to save the life of Pomona resident David Jones, who she sat next to aboard the parade bus on Saturday.
"I am so happy," said an emotional Arana. "When (David) says, `Hello,' I feel it is my son who says hello and is hugging me. When I met him and his mom, they were so grateful - I understood what a difference my son made."
Of the more than 7,800 Los Angeles-area residents are candidates on the national organ transplant waiting list two-thirds are Latino, African-American or Asian, according to OneLegacy.
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Honoring King with the parade "started out as being focused on black liberation, but it's grown to involve everybody because until everybody is free, nobody is free," said Adrian Dove, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, the third oldest civil rights group in the United States and organizer of the annual parade through South Los Angeles.
"This is what Dr. King preached," Dove said, "so we're trying to keep doing whatever it is we think he'd do if he was still here to ensure his dream comes to fruition."
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| Photo: Raquel Gonzalez |
The quote by King is what Donate Life California and OneLegacy hopes will spur more minorities to sign up as donors. The "Get On Board Donate Life" bus - carrying transplant recipients, donor family members, living donors, wait-list candidates and healthcare providers - is a collaboration between the nonprofit organ and tissue registry and nonprofit organ and tissue recovery agency.
"I feel that I am answering that question with my mission to save lives," said Granada Hills resident Elsa Arana through a Spanish translator.
Arana is the mother of Marco Arana, Jr. who died in a 2006 car crash at age 28. Her son's kidney was donated to save the life of Pomona resident David Jones, who she sat next to aboard the parade bus on Saturday.
"I am so happy," said an emotional Arana. "When (David) says, `Hello,' I feel it is my son who says hello and is hugging me. When I met him and his mom, they were so grateful - I understood what a difference my son made."
Of the more than 7,800 Los Angeles-area residents are candidates on the national organ transplant waiting list two-thirds are Latino, African-American or Asian, according to OneLegacy.
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