The  event honored the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrated the  continued impact of the 1963 March on Washington. This year's theme was  unity, organizers said.

• A Fayetteville nonprofit hosted an inaugural banquet to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington.
• The event's theme was unity, aiming to bring people together regardless of background, race or religion.
• The  banquet featured a reenactment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a  Dream" speech and a keynote address from his nephew, Isaac Newton  Farris.

On the 63rd anniversary of the  March on Washington, a new Fayetteville banquet sought to connect Martin  Luther King Jr.'s vision for civil rights, racial justice and unity to  the present. The nonprofit The Dream Lives Inc. hosted the inaugural banquet at New Life Bible Church in Fayetteville on Aug. 28, the 63rd anniversary of the march.

The  banquet featured choral performances by Jared L. Payton, spoken word  from Cross Creek Early College student Ashanti Mensah, a video  presentation about the history of the March on Washington, a reenactment  of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the march and a keynote speech from Isaac Newton Farris, nephew of King.

Mayor  Pro Tem Derrick Thompson, Cumberland County Board of Commissioners  Chairman Kirk deViere and North Carolina State Sen. Val Applewhite also  spoke at the event, which hundreds of people attended.

Fayetteville City Council member Stephon Ferguson, president of The Dream Lives Inc. and the only person in the world licensed by King’s estate to perform reenactments of the slain civil rights icon, performed King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the banquet.

The theme for this year, Ferguson said, was unity — it was officially called the Unity Banquet.

“The  main thing was bringing people together regardless of our differences,  regardless of our backgrounds, race, religion, sexual orientation,  faith,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson, who grew up in  Fayetteville and is a graduate of Seventy-First High School, said that  plans are already underway for next year’s banquet, which will celebrate  women who were involved in the march. His nonprofit, The Dream Lives, aims to preserve King's legacy and teachings through reenactments of his speeches.

He  said that continuing to commemorate the March on Washington is  important because supporters of its cause came from all walks of life. 

The  1963 march was one of the key events in American history, Ferguson  said, representing the power of people joining together regardless of  their beliefs to advocate for civil rights for all. Of the 250,000  people who attended the march, tens of thousands were white alongside 190,000 African Americans, according to the National Park Service. King also mobilized Latino leaders across the country to compel thousands from their population to attend the march.

“It  was very diverse. It was about humanity rather than racial,” Ferguson  said. “I think it’s important that we continue to remember those who  came before us, the work they did and then the work that we still have  yet to do.”

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom focused on “employment discrimination and civil rights abuses against  African Americans, Latinos and other disenfranchised groups,” according  to the National Park Service. An  estimated 250,000 people came to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  to advocate for the passage of the Kennedy administration’s Civil Rights  Act. The march is best known for being the site of King’s “I Have a  Dream” speech.

At the banquet, Farris  established the “three most powerful tools” that Americans have achieved  in King’s vision of a “promised land:” the right of every American  citizen to protest, vote and share their economic resources.

“We’re  in the promised land,” said Farris, the son of King's sister Christine  King Farris. “The very important question we all need to be asking  tonight is, how do we use the power tools of Dr. King’s promised land to  both remain in the promised land and to create Dr. King’s Beloved  Community?”

Farris argued that the right to  protest and the right to vote are under threat in today's political  environment, and said that practicing Kingian nonviolence helps people regain control of what they are advocating for.

He  said that as long as people keep advocating for nonviolent,  strategically planned protests like the March on Washington and showing  up to the polls no matter what kind of community they live in, democracy  will ultimately prevail and racism will fall.

Alex Goldstein is the dining, retail and culture reporter at The Fayetteville Observer. Reach him at agoldstein@usatodayco.com.