Photos: Skid row’s Walk the Talk parade

More than 3,400 people live in shelters or on the sidewalks of L.A.’s skid row neighborhood -- the densest concentration of homeless in the county. The Walk the Talk parade, going by at left, celebrates the community’s leaders.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Members of the Mudbug Brass Band perform New Orleans jazz while leading the parade down 6th Street in skid row. The event combined performances, visual art and community conversations celebrating those that have made a difference in the community.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Stephanie Bell, who was homeless on skid row in the 1990s, came back to see friends and appear in the Walk the Talk skits. She said she remembered seeing rats that leaped knee-high off the sidewalk, but thinks better times are coming.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The Walk the Talk parade participants proceeded from Gladys Park northwest to 5th and Main streets, led by the Mudbug Brass Band and stopping for sketches celebrating local activists.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)