Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was on the minds of many of Baltimore?s black residents as they talked about the impact of his legacy ? then and now ? outside Lexington Market on Saturday.
Each said the civil rights leader was still a symbol of hope ? a leader whose words continue to inspire. His legacy, they said, lives on.
But the dream of a better life the Nobel Peace Prize winner famously proclaimed on the Mall in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1963 seemed distant to some, or at the very least unrealized. A rising homicide rate, a dearth of black-owned businesses downtown and not enough affordable housing are all stumbling blocks on the road to realizing King?s vision, they said.
Veronise Harris, 25, a resident of Essex who works at a cosmetics stall in the market, said King?s leadership is still sorely missed today.
“No one since Dr. King has been as good at preaching unity, about all people coming together ? not just one race. We don?t have a leader of his caliber now,” she said as she stood outside the market taking a break.
Stephen Williams, on his way home after shopping at the market, said King would not be happy about the state of the city.
“He would be upset about Baltimore today,” Williams said. “He went to the trouble to make sure that black people are included, but now we can?t afford to live downtown.”
Mae Bell, who turns 60 today, said if King were alive today, he would work to change people?s mindsets.
“He would help people get together, and stop the violence,” she said, as she left the market with her son, Brian, 33.
Cynthia MacCory, who owns the Cynthia?s Cosmetics stall in the mall, said that while progress has been made, more needs to be done.
“The whole downtown needs more black-owned business,” she said.
Lanelle King, 52, from east Baltimore, who is currently unemployed due to an injury, said the holiday was about remembering the man.
“This generation is not as aware of Dr. King?s legacy as they should be. They know fragments of it but not enough of it,” he said.
A Lexington Market security officer who wanted to be identified only as Officer Fortune, 37, said the holiday is a reminder to him of how much King is missed.
“If he were alivetoday, people would have better homes and better jobs,” he said.
Examiner Correspondent Taya Graham contributed to this report.
