First AME Church in South LA marks Black Solidarity Sunday

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Parishioners at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Los Angeles wore black to their services as part of the Black Solidarity Sunday movement.

Parishioners had planned since last week to wear black to this week's services, which ended up coinciding with activists dubbing Sunday "Black Solidarity Sunday" during a massive demonstration in Washington D.C. lead by Rev. Al Sharpton.

Everyone from pastors, ushers and churchgoers participated. They all wore black as a show of solidarity and peaceful protest of the recent killings of black unarmed men by police officers, from Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., to Eric Garner in New York City.

"Black Lives Matter" has been the calling cry for protesters across the country. Black shirts were chosen to support the slogan.

"Your presence today, dressed in black, unifies you with others, with thousands, with hundreds of thousands of others around the world, to remind those who are in the seats of power in this country and other countries that the freedom and the peace and the liberty that God has given to all of mankind, every man and every woman, belongs to them," said Rev. Joyce L. Randall.

Services like the one at First AME Church took place across the nation.

PHOTOS: "Justice for All March" in Washington, DC