Martin Luther King Day this year is also the day that America celebrates the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, a black man who not only got elected to the White House in 2008, but survived four years of racist invective from the Tea Party and still managed to surmount a pasty Mormon last November.

God bless America, indeed. And God bless MLK for his part in making all this possible.

If you've got the day off, celebrate Seattle's 31st annual Martin Luther King Day parade at 12:30 p.m. at Garfield High School (400 23rd Avenue). A rally begins at 11 a.m.—including song, speeches, spoken word. The parade leaves from Garfield and snakes down to the Federal Building for another brief rally (915 2nd Avenue). Stragglers, grab your signs—you can find the parade route here.