Martin Luther King Jr. due to his legacy and activism now has hundreds of streets in America named in his honor. Although King is still very respected streets named after him aren’t, and a local St. Louis man Melvin White is working to change that.
A local postal service employee, White has had enough of the way streets named after the great activist looks. “Look at the trash, look at the buildings. It’s a very dangerous street,” he said.
White has had enough of the streets named after King not representing the late activist, he joined a non-profit called “Beloved Streets of America”. White believed that the street would look better with business, he told NBC, “To rebuild his legacy by revitalizing buildings, bringing economics back to the street, making this a striving street that represents his name.”
St.Louis isn’t the only Dr. King street location that is unattractive, it’s all over the United States. “Beloved Streets of America” is working to resolve that problem. “A lot of them are in the condition like ours is,” White said.
The process of revamping the communities and streets has been receiving a lot of support but, not that much from the place it started, St. Louis. White said, “Our own city is not supporting us,.We get more support from people from other cities than our own city.” White said he had been working on beautifying the street in St.Louis for 10 years and there was little to no progress. “You can only go so far because you need resources to continue moving forward with your mission,” he said.
White still encourages local entrepreneurs to support the movement to clean up the streets named after Dr.King. “If you truly believe in Dr. King’s mission to come together, let’s do this, let’s change this stigma.”
