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CNN Today
Many Communities Honor Martin Luther King With A Street Named After Him
Aired January 15, 1997 - 2:22 p.m. ETBOBBIE BATTISTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, today is the 68th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, though the nation officially honors his civil rights legacy on Monday.
LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: Many communities honor King daily with an avenue, a street or a drive named after him.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve has a look at life along king's roadway.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I have a dream that one day...
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just miles from where Martin Luther King cried out to the nation to embrace his dream of equality, opportunity and brotherhood, an avenue bears his name.
MESERVE (on camera): So here you are on Martin Luther King Avenue. Do you feel like that dream has come true?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hell no!
MESERVE (voice-over): The avenue was dedicated in 1971 to commemorate the man and his ideals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a son who I brought to show him that we had named the street after a black man, after an African-American who had stood up for what he felt was right and to tell him that you could be whatever you want to be and regardless to who you are.
MESERVE (voice-over): Sandy Allen took that to heart. Once a Welfare mother, she is now a city council member. But in this mostly black, mostly poor part of town, others say it is hard to keep King's dream live in the face of hard reality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #2: It's hard for me to be believable in telling my son that he can be a doctor, when I work for the Department of Public Works. You know what I mean?
MESERVE (voice-over): Many of the people on this street have no job. There are few businesses here to employ them. And the streets is dangerous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE #2: I am not saying that this area has any more crime than any other section of the city, but the other sections of the city are not named after Martin Luther King! MESERVE (voice-over): Martin Luther King who preached non- violence and peace.
There is consensus at a barber shop on the avenue that there is a long road to travel to fulfill King's vision of equality and justice. But there is hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #3: We haven't achieved it, but I think it is possible. We still have to work at it, and I think maybe the next generation or two, we might just get there.
MESERVE (voice-over): But here and now, on the street named for the man with a dream, the dream is not yet reality.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
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