A small group of San Jose State University students found a unique way to mark the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech.
Over 60 days this summer, seven journalism students embedded themselves in some of the Bay Area's urban communities and looked at the personal toll of recent homicides spanning from Oakland to San Jose.
The team said they asked themselves, "If Dr. Martin Luther King were alive today, what would he say and do about the widespread, self ‐ inflicted violence devastating America’s minority communities"?
The question is even more poignant as the anniversary of King's famous 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech approaches on Aug. 28.
"I see all the violence," said Victor Guzman of Salinas, one of the broadcast students who worked on the film. "We want the community to see there is a problem in San Jose, in Silicon Valley."
Guzman added: "This was a struggle to make sure people had their stories told the proper way. But there is really nothing we couldn't overcome."
At the heart of the 30-minute documentary are two San Jose families struggling to heal emotionally after the loss of their loved ones to gang violence.
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SJSU photojournalism professor Michael Cheers led the project .
"We deconstructed the past and reconstructed and re-imagined the present by focusing the lens on the future, so 50 years from now, journalism students aren't looking at the 100th anniversary of the March on Washington and discovering that our nation has not moved forward," Cheers said.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED: The video titled "A Dream Fulfilled? A Dream Deferred?" will play at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Library In San Jose starting Friday inside the King Collection on the third floor. It will run through Sept. 1.
