NEW HAVEN -- Alderman Yusuf Shah had a dream.
He dreamt someone asked him where Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was, and he couldn't find it. Upon awaking, he realized there was no commemoration of King in the city.
After working with the mayor, the community and others, Shah spearheaded legislation that resulted in changing the name of North Frontage Road to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, marked Saturday with the unveiling of first of several signs.
"When on this site, you have to have vision. You can't look at this site the way it is now," said Shah, D-23, of the Dwight/West River area. "We are taking this 'road to nowhere' and turning it into a community that is viable. You can see the potential of this site and this street."
"Street names not only tell us where we are, but where we've been," said Mayor John DeStefano. "This street location, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, stretches from State Street to Ella Grasso Boulevard. It's one of the longest streets in the city."
The Board of Aldermen approved the name change in 2009.
"This means people can be proud of who they are and realize that someone fought for them in a time of adversity," Alderman Charles Blango, D-20, explained to those standing on the Tyler Street field in front of the sign. "It lets them know they cannot give up hope."
The new sign symbolizes more than a simple name change to some.
"The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Junior is a reminder that young people can provide vision and leadership and inspiration at a young age," said state Sen. Martin M. Looney, D- New Haven. "The seed that he planted is still bearing fruit to this day."
State Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven, said she felt privileged to be alive in King's time.
"This street is a small reminder of our responsibility for our community to (have) a sense of justice and peace that exists throughout our state and nation," she said.
Brian K. Perkins, chairman of the department of educational leadership at Southern Connecticut State University, closed the event by reading King's "I See the Promised Land/I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech.
Follow Alexandra Sanders on Twitter @asanders88.
