The gold armband James Sharpe has kept packed away for 50 years holds as much significance today as it did when he wore it working security for the March on Washington.

Sharpe, 84, a retired New York police officer who lives in Palm Coast, was part of a group of police and fire department employees who came from New York for the Aug. 28, 1963 march for racial equality and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Sharpe was a volunteer marshal on stage with King and vividly recalls looking out over the more than 200,000 people.
“It was a religious experience. It was just unbelievable,” he said.
With the 50th anniversary's arrival, Sharpe and others locally remember that historic day, and several groups from Volusia and Flagler counties traveled to the nation's capital Friday to be part of an anniversary march today and other activities next week.
Being near King, Sharpe said, “I was like a kid in a candy store. It was all really amazing. I had no idea of the impact it would have.
“We didn't think about it being a part of history at the time,” he said. “It was about a purpose – to let Americans know the conditions of African Americans. It meant something to me. It really did.”
Sharpe's daughter, Linda Sharpe Haywood, president of the Flagler County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, took a bus with a handful of people from Flagler and other NAACP branches to D.C. on Friday, and another 20 people from Daytona Beach left from Jacksonville.
Haywood was 7 when she saw the 1963 march on TV. While she didn't fully understand its significance then, she knew her dad was involved with something important.
Now, she said, “I feel like I'm following in his footsteps” since many of the issues fought 50 years ago, such as equal justice, fair housing, voting rights and employment, are still “relevant today.”
“If this country truly wanted to live up to the Constitution and law of the land, some 50 years later we shouldn't be fighting the same causes we fought back during the civil rights era,” added Cynthia Slater, president of the Volusia County NAACP branch, who is attending Saturday's today's march and also was 7 in 1963.
Willie Kimmons, 69, of Daytona Beach, president of the consulting company Save Children Save Schools Inc., was 19 years old and a sophomore at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. 50 years ago. He and nine other students from the student government association drove 14 hours through the night in a van to D.C. for the march. Holding an SGA banner, the students were at the steps leading to the stage near King. Kimmons said it “was just breathtaking” to “see thousands of white and black people from around the country and world come together for a common purpose.
“We were inspired. We were excited and motivated to make a difference,” said Kimmons, who returned to Missouri to help integrate theaters and restaurants. “It changed my whole life.”
He returned for the 20th anniversary and will spend next week in Washington for various events.
Bethune-Cookman University President Edison Jackson, 70, was a 20-year-old junior at Howard University and was working at nearby Peoples Drug Store.
He and a co-worker walked two blocks during their break to see the crowd. He wanted to “experience the excitement.” He went back to the store soon after to listen to King's speech on the radio.
“Here was an African- American man who had risen to great prominence by the sheer force of his faith and his eloquence of speech,” Jackson said. “He appealed to our inner consciousness that we can become better and we are all God's children.”
Jackson is encouraging faculty to talk about the historic march next week and King's speech will be reenacted at an event Wednesday. Too many students, he said, “don't have a sense of the struggle and appreciation of where they are today.”
Sharpe, who kept various magazines and books on the coffee table on civil rights for his children growing up, said the “past three generations take it for granted. People died so they could vote and sit in a restaurant and have a cup of coffee.”
B-CU Student Government President Jayson Douglas, 20, who is attending the anniversary march, also wants more students his age to understand the history. His parents told him about listening to King's speech on the radio in their home country of Jamaica before moving to the U.S.
“It's a monumental occasion,” Douglas said about wanting to be a part of the anniversary march.
He looks forward to one day telling his children.
“I think we as leaders and people who are enriched in our culture need to pass on that information to our young people,” Douglas said.
Julia Cherry, 85, of Daytona Beach, said her late husband, Charles Cherry Sr., a former city commissioner and civil rights advocate, went to college with King and was at the march. She and her children watched from home.
“This was something that never happened before and it was for us and for equality,” she said. “It is really important that the young people really know the importance
of marching for civil rights.”