On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, Mayors James M. Ford of Country Club Hills and Vernard L. Alsberry, Jr. of Hazel Crest unveiled street names in both villages as Honorary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Street on 175th Street. With a strong working relationship for several years, Mayors Ford and Alsberry wanted to do something special for Black History Month.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RENAMING STREETS IN HONOR OF DR. KING
“Mayor Alsberry and I came up with this great idea about renaming one of our streets to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a great civil rights leader in his time, and he left a legacy for us to follow, and we are using the examples that he set for us. It was important to honor Dr. King with a street name in the Southland,” says Mayor Ford.
“Throughout the country, there are streets named after Dr. King. In the south suburbs, we have more African Americans moving to the Southland. The leaders from the 1960s that paved the way for us, we need to continue to honor them. With the Southland being diverse culturally, it is a great place to start where we do not just have Martin Luther King, Jr. Streets just in black communities, but we have them in neighborhoods that represent what Dr. King represented,” says Mayor Alsberry.
Hazel Crest resident Lester Sanders, who was the catalyst behind getting Dr. King a street name in the Southland, was happy that this day was finally happening. “My dream just came true,” says Sanders.
CEREMONIES HELD TO COMMEMORATE RENAMING
Before the unveiling, Payton Sawyer, a fourth-grader at Lenart Elementary Regional Gifted Center and a finalist for this year’s Foley & Lardner MLK Jr. Oratory Competition did a speech on ‘If Dr. King were alive today, he would remind us all what he fought for.’ Sawyer said, “I believe if Dr. King was alive today, he would remind us all what he fought for so we can have a more peaceful life with less violence.”
Mayors Ford and Alsberry held separate ceremonies. The street unveilings took place at 175th & East Carriageway Drive in Hazel Crest and 175th & Central Park Avenue in Country Club Hills.
Tammy Gibson is a travel historian, author, and writer. Find her at Facebook, Instagram @SankofaTravelher, and Twitter @SankofaTravelHr
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