Houston's 2 MLK parades represent decades of discord



>>Here's a short history of the t he dispute between two organizations and their competing parades honoring the slain civil rights leader... The "Original" Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in 2018.

>>Here's a short history of the t he dispute between two organizations and their competing parades honoring the slain civil rights leader... The "Original" Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in 2018. Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff / Houston Chronicle Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Houston's 2 MLK parades represent decades of discord 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

A decades-old battle to be Houston's premier celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. continues Monday as two groups host competing parades.

Both will step off at 10 a.m., with the Black Heritage Society's Original MLK Jr. Parade beginning at City Hall and the MLK Grande Parade starting at San Jacinto and Elgin streets in Midtown.

Mayor Sylvester Turner threw his support last year to the Black Heritage Society's parade, which was founded in 1978. The parade this year is dedicated to Ovide Duncantell, the group's founder who died in November at 82.

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Organizers say they anticipate as many as 40,000 people to watch the parade, making it one of the society's largest ever, according to a city news release.

The Grande parade was organized in 1995 by Charles Stamps, a former volunteer with the Black Heritage Society who isn't happy that Turner made the competing parade an official city event.

At our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com, read how the parades this year appear to have the making of political duel.

Click through the gallery above to see how two onetime colleagues wound up in a battle over the MLK parade.

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