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A 780th Military Intelligence Brigade family member was honored with an invitation to speak at a prestigious tribute honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Washington National Cathedral.

Tony Keith, son of Annette Duberry, secretary to the commander of the 780th MI, was personally asked by Patty Johnson, canon missioner of the Washington National Cathedral, to perform one of his original compositions at the celebration, "King in Our Midst," on Jan. 16.

The annual event celebrates King's legacy through service projects, interfaith dialogue, and performances of Washington's rich music and dance heritage.

Keith, 30, recited his poem "Awake and Awesome," which also featured vocal excerpts from King's sermon at the Washington National Cathedral on March 31, 1968. In what was to be his last sermon, King spoke of "remaining awake through a great revolution."

Keith intertwined the art of spoken-word poetry between recorded portions of King's sermon, in what almost seemed to be a parallel interpretation.

He was invited as a guest speaker after Johnson heard him at the D.C. Voters Rally in Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House.

A Washington, D.C., area native, Keith identifies himself as a poet, educator and "nerd" -- a "world-traveled, spoken-word artist, cultural educator, and reader and writer of inclusion," he said.

"I think the first time I wrote a poem was in third grade," Keith said. "I was always good at writing, I used to win writing awards in elementary school all the time. The first time I ever performed a poem on stage was my senior year of high school."

As a poet, Keith has traveled around the world teaching poetry and empowering young people to engage in the art of spoken word.

As an educator, he has committed his life to working with first-generation, low-income, racial and ethnic minority students, and engaging in cultural education and social justice programming on college campuses.

As a "nerd," his thoughts, writings, teachings and performances are centered on topics dealing with race, gender, poverty, culture and sexuality.

Keith has been invited to speak at various events by major universities across the United States, as well as by arts and social-justice, international cultural-immersion programs around the world, including Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2011, Keith made more than a dozen appearances at various universities nationwide, and his popularity continues to grow. As a result of his engagement at "King in our Midst," Keith received several other invitations.

"He has so much creativity and diction," Johnson said. "Tony is so inspirational -- he's a rock star."

Keith's inspiration for performing came from the 1997 movie "Love Jones," starring Lorenz Tate and Nia Long.

"It is a love story that's documented through written poetry and performance poetry," Keith recalled. "It was then I learned how to distinguish word on paper from an actual artistic performance.

"On paper, poems are simple, neat, clean, organized with stanzas and a calculated rhyme scheme. On stage, however, poetry can be raw and vibrant, loud, and full of texture and body movements all meant to transform the atmosphere."

His written poetry, however, is inspired by the stories and experiences of others.

"I meet a lot of people, and often listening to their lives inspires me to write something," Keith said.

At last month's "King in the Midst" tribute, Keith performed along with the St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church Gospel Choir, the Malcolm X Dancers and Drummers, Urban Nation H.I.P.-H.O.P. Choir, Washington Performing Arts Society's Children of the Gospel Choir, and City Dance Conservatory Dancers with singers from the School Without Walls Concert Choir.

Immediately after his performance, Keith left the stage and walked down the center aisle, where both he and his mother met and hugged.

Duberry cried.

"I am always blown away by his talent," she said.