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St. Louis man wants to rebuild legacy of MLK Drive

"It should be representative of what he stood for, a beautiful street, a thriving street."
Credit: KSDK

ST. LOUIS — “He stood for much more than what the resemblance of the street that bears his name.”

The realization dawned on Melvin White, a postal worker frustrated with what he saw as he traveled Martin Luther King Drive every day.

“Look at the trash, look at the buildings, he said. “It’s a very dangerous street.”

The road is named with good intentions, but where does it lead? It sent White on a mission, a non-profit called Beloved Streets of America.

“To rebuild his legacy by revitalizing buildings, bringing economics back to the street, making this a striving street that represents his name.”

Hundreds of American streets are named for Dr. King.

“A lot of them are in the condition like ours is,” said White, who visited many of them as part of his research.

The idea of beautification and revamping the communities around MLK streets starts in St. Louis.

“We’ve brought Harvard University here to St. Louis, we’ve brought CNN, we’ve brought all kinds of national attention.”

But despite that, it also ends with St. Louis.

“Our own city is not supporting us,” he said. “We get more support from people from other cities than our own city.”

That’s why after more than 10 years of his efforts, Martin Luther King Drive in St. Louis still looks as it did when he began.

“You can only go so far because you need resources to continue moving forward with your mission.”

Their former office on MLK Dr. has also now fallen victim to vandalism and blight, and he eveb with continued calls and donations from supporters and partners around the country, White says Beloved Streets hasn’t been able to get real attention from local lawmakers. With a renewed focus on civil rights in this city in the past few years, though, he hopes that can change.

“If you truly believe in Dr. King’s mission to come together, let’s do this, let’s change this stigma.”

To find out more about the organization, visit Beloved Streets of America online.

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