"We have some laws that came about as a result of his activism, but we really haven't gotten very far. Every few years it comes up - Are we going to repeal the Civil Rights Act? Every few years it comes up that someone is trying to take away what gains that we have, so I think he would be disappointed with our progress,because we still have a ways to go. I'd like to see us tackle the economic issues that we have," said Robert Buckner, the Marion County NAACP President.

"The Power of Unity" was the theme of the event. The keynote speaker also touched on the issue of economic divide between the races.  She credits Dr. King for creating opportunities that's allowed her to achieve all that she has.

Dr. Elizabeth Dooley told us, "As a child, it empowered me to speak up against those things that I thought were wrong. And also to request a better education. Request that I be treated as equally as my counterparts were."

Interestingly enough, the public inauguration of President Obama is on Monday, the same day the nation will recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day.