FAYETTEVILLE — Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of equality, unity and brotherhood rang out Monday, embodied by more than 800 marchers who walked up Dickson Street to celebrate the federal holiday bearing King’s name.

Marchers sang “We Shall Overcome” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and chanted King’s name.

“You must have a mission. You must have a purpose — some set of goals. You must strive for something — how you’re going to contribute. That’s the legacy of Dr. King,” Sherece West-Scantlebury, president and CEO of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, told attendees during a noon vigil in the University of Arkansas Union.

West-Scantlebury encouraged college students to become transformational leaders through service to others.

“Make sure that in all that you do, you have a mission,” she said. “What you do impacts everybody and everything.”

Her keynote speech was accompanied by a poetry reading by Patrice Bax, HEI program coordinator in the university’s Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education, and music by Fort Smith native Shirlandria Enoch.

Attendees viewed a video of King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered Aug. 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

Julie Griggs, an English teacher at Bentonville High School, brought her 8-year-old daughter, Lorelai Wilson, to Monday’s vigil.

Griggs said it was important to teach her daughter some of the lessons King imparted.

“It’s not just what he accomplished, but how he accomplished it — with a spirit of nonviolence, gentleness and forgiveness,” Griggs said.

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law 50 years ago this summer. The law prohibits discrimination in public facilities, schools and federally assisted programs.

The importance of the anniversary was not lost on Trey Smith, a Fayetteville High School student and president of the Northwest Arkansas Dream Keepers organization.

“That bill was all about getting equality in the workplace,” Smith said. “Now, we don’t have to think about that as much. Anyone has access to the American Dream.”

The Dream Keepers, a youth group that meets each month at St. James Missionary Baptist Church, donated blankets this year to the Peace at Home Family Shelter and hosted a prayer breakfast Monday at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.

Other events Monday included a reception at Arvest Bank on East Avenue and the 18th annual Recommitment Banquet at the Fayetteville Town Center, where members of the Northwest Arkansas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Council presented scholarships to area high school and college students.

A service event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Connections Lounge at the Arkansas Union. Volunteers will work on projects with about 12 agencies and can package scarves, gloves and hats collected by the King Council for Seven Hills Homeless Center and the Fayetteville Public Schools Outback food pantry and clothing closet.