Donate Life Kingdom Day Parade Bus Encourages Organ Donation Registrations

Organ & Tissue Donation Blog | Glenn Matsuki


Kingdom Day Parade - Donate Life Bus from Glenn Matsuki on Vimeo.

Thousands lined the streets of South Los Angeles on Monday for the nation's largest commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, the 27th annual Kingdom Day Parade. There was the smell of delicious barbecue in the air amid sounds of R & B and hip hop music throughout the parade route.   Many of us agreed that this was the largest crowd in more than five years. This year marks the 43rd anniversary of King's assassination. 

The parade started at 11 a.m. at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Western Avenue, then headed west to Crenshaw Boulevard, turning south on Vernon Avenue. The parade ended at Leimert Park where a gospel festival was held. The atmosphere was electric, a celebration of life tempered by the current economic uncertainty in this diverse neighborhood.

The parade honors the legacy of the late civil rights leader, who would have been 83 this year. The theme of this year's parade was "The Dream Continues to Live and Grow."

There were 30 marching groups and 20 floats - among them, the "Occupy King's Dream" float, honoring his work to end poverty. The "Get Onboard Donate Life" float sought to inspire organ and tissue donation among people of color. On board the double- decker bus is an ethnically diverse group of waiting list candidates, transplant recipients, living donors and donor family members.

Channel 7 sports newscaster Rob Fukuzaki stopped by our bus to lend his support to Donate Life.