1968

1968. Cultural Convergence. , Following the April 4, 1968, assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., rioting broke out when angry crowds gathered at 14th and U Streets. The disturbances, here and around the city, lasted four days. At least ten people were killed with hundreds injured. Property damage was extensive., Directly across 14th Street from this sign was Smith's Pharmacy, owned by Larry Rosen. The pharmacy's staff and customers were predominantly African American, "and everyone got along," Rosen recalled. So he was stunned when, on April 4 and 5, Smith's was looted, then burned. "We merchants had nothing to do with Dr. King's murder," Rosen reflected later. "Why were we being attacked?" Smith's never reopened., A few weeks later, Howard University historians interviewed people who had participated in the violence. One 21-year-old explained that, upon hearing the news of Dr. King's death, he headed out, looking for friends who shared his horror and outrage. But the streets were filling with angry people breaking into businesses. "Many people I would consider to be extremely moderate were out there taking practically anything they could get their hands on," he said. Looting seemed a way to strike back at a system in which 'the white man can come in here and set up stores…, take his money, and then go out to the suburbs and deny the black man the opportunity to come out there.", For 25 years afterward, private developers shunned this and many riot-damaged areas. In 1993 the Nehemiah Group, a coalition of nonprofits led by the Development Corporation of Columbia Heights, broke ground on retail spaces and affordable housing. As you walk to Sign 13, notice their work: 2425 14th Street and 1301 Belmont Street.