What’s in a name?
For the more than 900 streets across the country named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., there’s a lot.
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“Streets connect us, but streets also divide us,” Amber Payne, co-director of the documentary “Avenues of Dreams: Reclaiming MLK Boulevards,” said. “A place that you don't want to go. There’s a famous Chris Rock joke about how violence is going to go down if you’re on MLK Boulevard.”
Over the years, many of the streets have become symbols of crime and inequality thanks to discriminatory housing practices. But there is also hope.
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Cue the documentary “Avenues of Dreams: Reclaiming MLK Boulevards.” Payne, a journalist and the film’s co-director, spoke with News4 moments before the premiere in D.C.
She and the rest of the film’s crew went to Baltimore and St. Louis to take a deep dive into the history behind the streets named after the civil rights icon, and the common threads that connect them all.
“Tell the story of MLK Boulevard and the people who are working there, working to make change on the boulevard instead of waiting for the calvary to come in,” Payne said.
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Among other questions, Payne said the film tackles, “how do you keep older people in their homes? What do they need to stay there and stabilize a community?”
The documentary also focuses on the scholars, organizers, artists, activists and entrepreneurs who are working to restore and transform the streets. They carry on King’s legacy, one block at a time.
“An avenue like MLK can serve as a litmus test for America. How are black people doing in America?” Payne said. “We can take a look at the history and the context of why these streets… were not invested in, but we can also look forward to the people, the communities who are trying to change these streets.”
You can watch the documentary for free on Comcast Xfinity's Black Experience channel.
