(WIBC.com photo: Eric Berman)

City leaders say the way to bring Martin Luther King's dream to life is through education and collaboration.

About 400 people made the annual half-block march from Indianapolis Urban League headquarters to the Madame Walker Theater, carrying a wreath in King's honor. Programs for the ceremony merged King's face with President Obama's under the heading "The Dream Realized," and the crowd watched a live Internet stream of Obama's inauguration on the theater screen.

Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams told the crowd there's evidence all around of King's dream of a color-blind society being fulfilled, from Obama to Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III. But Williams repeatedly emphasized Obama can't fix the nation's problems by himself, but needs everyone working together.

And Williams challenged teenagers not to use poverty-stricken neighborhoods as an excuse, but to reject the lures of drugs and alcohol in favor of education and respect for those around them.

City-County Councillor Leroy Robinson says there's the same need for cooperation at the city level. He points to underfunded schools and high incarceration rates as evidence that King's dream is not yet fully achieved.