Church history was surely made in Southern California this past week, when members of the LDS church were seen marching down Crenshaw Blvd “The Shaw”, for the annual Kingdom Day Parade, celebrating the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. Approximately 30 members, mostly of African American descent, dressed uniformly in burgundy sweaters and black pants or skirts, walked confidently through the streets of South Central. This area of Los Angeles is highly known for gang related activities, yet on this day there was no evidence of such goings-on, just the excitement and fascination of enthusiastic people of all cultures there to see celebrities, marching bands, floats, and various organizations representative of their community.
“Over 100,000 members of the Los Angeles community lined up on the street and cheered us as we brought our message that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has changed” said Mark Parades, LDS African American Community Relations Specialist.
“Both the face of the Church has changed, as well as its member’s outlooktowards African Americans” he stated. “I could not have anticipated that we would be so warmly received, with so many comments about there now being Black Mormons”, stated Marvin Perkins, Director of African American Relations for the Church’s Southern California Public Affairs Council.
When the event was over and many of the parade participants were returning to their vehicles, those who watched the parade stopped to talk to members of the LDS group to thank them for participating and also to inquire about the Church’s beliefs. For the Church members who participated, it was obvious that the spirit was with them as they shared the gospel with folks who were curious and hopefully moved to learn more.