SALUTING THE DREAM\Thousands celebrate King birthday.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

The dream was alive in Los Angeles on Monday, as hundreds of thousands of people attended parades, speeches, workshops and prayer vigils to honor the memory of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Across the city, from a parade down Martin Luther King Boulevard in the Crenshaw District to a seminar on community improvement in the San Fernando Valley, residents joined to honor the spirit of the slain civil rights leader who would have been 67.

Three decades after King's "I Have A Dream" speech on the Washington Mall, tens of thousands of people lined more than three miles of the boulevard for the 16th annual Kingdom Day Parade, which featured 16 floats and more than 100 other entries.

City and state leaders, who rode in the parade, joined in praising King's vision for a just society, while acknowledging that work still needs to be done to realize his vision.

Even the youngest parade-goers got the idea.

"Dr. King was a great man and this parade is supposed to honor him," said James Adams, a 7-year-old from the Crenshaw District who was watching the parade with his family.

Mayor Richard Riordan rode at the head of the parade in an antique, city-owned Chrysler Imperial limousine along with Celes King III, state chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality.

"The message of Dr. King was beautiful, that people of every color have to have love and work together," Riordan said.

But the mayor also received some scattered boos from the crowd and criticism from an African-American leader who said Riordan isn't doing enough to reach out to the city's poor and to support affirmative action programs.

Roz Campbell, 37, of the Fairfax District said she was "shocked" to see Riordan heading the parade.

"I know he's the mayor of the city (and should appear)," said Campbell. "But Martin Luther King fought for this dream of everyone being equal. We fought hard to get affirmative action, to get to where we are today. We've just gotten started, and now it's being taken away from us."

State Sen. Diane Watson, who rode in a car behind Riordan's and who has criticized the mayor for his role in the ouster of Metropolitan Transportation Authority head Franklin White, also an African-American, said the mayor needs to do more to prove he supports King's legacy.

"He has to be the mayor for all of the city of Los Angeles," said Watson, D-Los Angeles. "The mayor needs to be reaching out."

Riordan, who has said he supports the city's affirmative action programs but has declined to take a position on a state initiative that seeks to ban such programs, claims he treats all people in the city equally.

In the Valley, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's San Fernando Valley branch sponsored a four-hour community improvement seminar at a Pacoima community center, said its president, the Rev. Zedar Broadous.

"This year, we decided his dream at some point needed to become reality," he said.

The brainstorming session yielded a number of community improvement ideas, including holding career days for youths, the NAACP official said.

Graffiti eradication, community beautification, voter registration and other plans also were discussed, he said.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

(color) Diana Newbell of Los Angeles claps for the marchers during Monday's 16th Annual Kingdom Day Parade. Myung J. Chun/Daily News