For the second time in three years, City College won first place at the 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Day Parade on Jan. 15.
City’s Associated Student Government coordinated the inclusion of the float, which was the same float that won first place at the Martin Luther King Day Parade in 2010.
According to Angel Henderson, ASG’s public events coordinator, the motif behind the float centered on the disparity between the funding afforded to the prison system as opposed to education.
“We’re trying to bring more awareness to the cause,” Henderson said, commenting on the message the float attempted to convey, “to promote more scholars than prisoners.”
Victoria Angulo, senate president at ASG, agreed with Henderson.
“Instead of throwing people in jail we should educate them. That money should go towards education,” Angulo said.
According to Henderson, many other schools also competed in the float competition — including San Diego Mesa College, San Diego State University, the Education Cultural Complex and others.
The parade itself, hosted by the Zeta Sigma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, is “one of the largest celebrations of its kind” in the United States, according to the Alpha Phi Alpha website.
The organization describes itself as “the oldest Black fraternity in America, founded in 1906” at Cornell University.
The parade took place between Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway, and included a visual array of marching bands, military drill teams and youth groups.