A legendary leader's efforts were recognized at an annual city-county celebration on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Social media sites were packed with famous quotes from the civil rights leader on Monday, words that led more than a movement.

"What he said then is as relevant today," said Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, of Madison's Common Council. "Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love."

On stage at the Overture Center in downtown Madison during Monday's ceremony was a man who knew Dr. King well enough to call him by just his first name -- noted civil rights leader the Rev. C.T. Vivian.

"He did it by caring so much that he was willing to suffer for what was right," said Vivian. "He made us live up to our ideals, and he did it by doing something. He didn't do it by cursing us out. He didn't do it by trying to make little of us."

Vivian challenged those in the room to challenge the status quo when the status quo doesn't feel right.

"If we would depend upon law, look what happened: In the 1860s they promised African-Americans, millions of us, that we would be citizens. We didn't get it until the 1960s," Vivian said.

In a city that pegs itself as a place for progress, audience members know there's still work to be done.

"Bring some changes within the education system; there's definitely a disparity for ethnic minorities," said one woman at Monday's event.

"Martin Luther King's dream is still not complete," said a local man.

The Capitol Theater at the Overture was filled for Monday's ceremony, many there specifically to hear Vivian speak. He famously led the charge to desegregate lunch counters in Peoria, Ill., and would later be a rider on the first "freedom bus" into Jackson, Miss.