(Photo: Joyce Jones/BET)

Sister Anna Cooper, a missionary of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, lives in Washington, D.C., where she works as a home health aide. Originally from Liberia, West Africa, she learned about the civil rights movement in her native country and in Washington, where she attended high school "back in the day."

Cooper, 62, wanted to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of the March on Washington in part because it represented many of the values of her faith: universal love for all mankind and peace.

"If you don't have peace, you can't have love," she said.

Cooper added that she appreciated hearing leaders speak about "Dr. Martin King Jr.'s dream, what has been realized and how it is for all of humanity, which we're still striving for."

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