Marching bands, buffalo soldiers and the peace activist group Women in Black were among the participants in today’s Martin Luther King Day Parade in Baltimore. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Gov. Martin O’Malley were there too. (Go here for some images from the day by photographer Chris Council .)

Meanwhile, the parade route, Baltimore’s Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, was the backdrop for a not-so-happy observation today — by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. The Maddow show aired a segment (by thegrio.com) noting that MLK Blvd. here remains “the dividing line between a booming Downtown and an underdeveloped black community.”

The segment features some harsh analysis from Dr. Charles Simmons, president of Sojourner-Douglass College:

“”What we see here is really the antithesis of what Martin Luther King stood for and wanted,” he tells reporter Jeff Johnson. “That is integration, self-development, and self-determination.”

Themar Long — whose Peace and a Cup of Joe coffee shop on Pratt Street is on the east side of the boulevard — provides the segment’s upbeat kicker.

“Letting other business owners and the people of Baltimore and people from other states see, that you can not only be on this side of the line, but you can also venture to the other side of the line,” Long said. “We want them to feel that it’s a welcoming side, each side, and not just a barrier.”