As the NAACP Detroit Branch marked its 70th year hosting its annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, the Rev. Wendell Anthony said the event — happening during what he called a critical time for civil and human rights — was more than a dinner.

“Freedom is on the line. Democracy is at the teetering edge,” Anthony said during the Sunday, June 29, dinner at Huntington Place in Detroit, where speakers highlighted issues both local and national. Wes Moore, governor of Maryland, delivered the keynote address and struck an optimistic chord, invoking the legacy of past civil rights leaders and touting his accomplishments as Maryland’s first Black governor.

The dinner, which typically draws thousands of attendees, is regarded by the NAACP Detroit Branch as “the largest sit-down dinner of its kind in the world” and has featured notable figures, including former President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock. Sunday’s event, bustling with guests and filled with speeches and awards, was no different.

Anthony, the longtime president of the NAACP Detroit branch, at a press conference beforehand, called out the actions of the Trump administration and the president’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” that the Senate debated over the weekend.

“At a time when universities are being extorted to comply with the ideology of authoritarianism spewing from the halls of the White House, law firms are being threatened if they do not bend the knee according to the legalese and lawlessness of one man, and judges are threatened with impeachment if they don’t rule to compliment the desires of a President, our nation cries out for the people to stand up. Each of us must be concerned about where America under this current administration is going,” Anthony said in a June 3 statement released ahead of the dinner.

Anthony called for racial unity for what he referred to as “a tidal wave of disrespect, anti-Americanism, and threat to the very lifeline of each and every American.”

“Now is not the time to stand down. Now is the time to step up,” he said at the dinner.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan meanwhile turned to public safety in his remarks, touting the work of community violence intervention groups in decreasing the number of homicides and the need for more funding. Duggan, who is running for governor of Michigan as an independent candidate, said he would not be moving out of Detroit.

Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, campaigning to be the next mayor of Detroit, said the city knows struggle, but also progress. She said it’s a critical time for the nation.

Moore described marching from the Annapolis docks in Maryland to the statehouse during his inauguration, and passing a statue of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black U.S. Supreme Court justice.

“In these times that we are in, with so much at stake, we have got to act with a fierce urgency of now that Dr. King preached and we’ve got to act with a fierce urgency of now that Thurgood Marshall fought for until the day he died,” he said.

Moore capped off the evening speaking about why he ran for office as someone without a political background. The widening racial wealth gap “shredded the fabric of American excellence” and still persists, hurting the economy and stalling job growth. He spoke of his accomplishments since becoming governor of Maryland, including a $1.3 billion investment in the state’s historically Black colleges and universities.

Meanwhile, in Michigan, Detroit is showing what happens when a city centers equity in economic development, he said.

“What’s happening both in Maryland and Michigan can serve as a blueprint for how we advance the causes of freedom and how we deliver results in the communities that we serve,” he said.