Dr. Martin Luther King Place: A Block in Bed-Stuy

“You can’t look this street up on the GPS, but it’s a still a pretty nice block,” said Claribel Adams, leaning out of the window of her house on Martin Luther King, Jr. Place.

The street runs one long block between Marcy Avenue and Tompkins Street in Bed-Stuy. It is one of 730 other streets across the United States named for the civil rights leader who fought against racial segregation and social injustice in America.

I ventured out to the block one bitter-cold afternoon in January, expecting to identify some of the signs of hope and progress expressed by the street’s namesake, wanting to pay homage – as we approached the national day of his celebration – to Dr. King’s vision for change.

What I found instead was the sobering truth: Yes, blacks in America had come a long way from “Whites Only” drinking fountains, but in the area of economic prosperity, they still had a long way to go.

Almost fifty years after Dr. King’s famed “I Have A Dream” speech, the scene on this block in Brooklyn seems to represents but a faint echo of Dr. King’s hope for integration and prosperity.

On one end of the long block were some townhouses, a city park, a school, a couple of old decrepit buildings and a handful of newly-built single homes. At the other end was an Associados Supermarket.

“It’s not what you think it’d be,” said a male resident of the block shaking his head. I had asked him about life on the block, and how it felt to have an address named after the iconic civil rights leader. He didn’t want to talk about it.

At first glance, the street, which happens to be sandwiched between the notorious Marcy Projects and the Tompkins Houses complex, is forlorn, lacking distinction, much less a sense of pride. What happened to Dr. King’s dream?

In fact, a quick research of the block finds reports of mostly drug and gang activity. And sadly, this is often a stereotype that streets named after the activist get. Comedian Chris Rock once said of the Bed-Stuy block, "If you find yourself on Martin Luther King Boulevard, run!"

Martin Luther King Jr. Place in Bed-Stuy, formerly known as Floyd Street, was given its distinction on June 11, 1974 by the City Planning Commission, six years after Dr. King was assassinated. Thousands gathered together that day in a special memorial service to celebrate the renaming.

However, while no one interviewed on King Place had any special plans for Dr. King’s birthday, some still recalled the significance of his legacy:

“I remember seeing Dr. King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech on TV,” said Suzie Stewart, 75 a longtime Bed-Stuy resident who lives on Martin Luther King Jr. Place. “Martin Luther King was a great man and I love him.”

“It feels kind of good [to live here], because he was a very important person,” says Keron Caeser, a resident of the block. “He made a lot of changes. His dreams and his words influenced so many and it definitely helped to change the world.”

I must have looked conspicuous, like an outsider. Because while I paced up and down the block, I was stopped a few times and asked why I was taking pictures.

So, despite the bleak feel, the residents still were quite protective of the block, and for the most part, pleasant and gracious, offering a ready smile.

Perhaps, Dr. King’s memory and words have not been lost on all of the residents of this block, for within a smile lives hope. And within the desire to protect, there is pride.

And perhaps the block truly is a microcosm of life for blacks in America, for although what we see on the outside may seem bereft, desolate and in need of greater collective participation, what exists inside of each home is a lot of love, resiliency and hope. Perhaps.