The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is being honored today in a number of ways, from people making it a day of service or choosing to follow his nonviolent philosophy. NYC's biggest celebration will be at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which has programs, films and a tribute with keynote speaker Dr. Cornel West.

The tribute, which begins at 10:30 (doors open at 8 a.m. with tickets given out on a first-come, first-seated basis), is BAM's 29th celebration of King's life and work. Besides the keynote from West, there will be remarks from Mayor de Blasio, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (who is emceeing), BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins and Medgar Evers College President Dr. Rudolph F. Crew, as well as musical performances from Sandra St. Victor & Oya’s Daughter and the New York Fellowship Mass Choir.

After the tribute, there are other free events:

Book signing: The Radical King and Black Prophetic Fire
Dr. Cornel West signs copies of his two latest books, Black Prophetic Fire and The Radical King—a new collection of writings by Dr. King, edited and introduced by West.
Jan 19 at 1pm
BAMcafé

Visual art: “Picture the Dream” Exhibition
NYCHA Atlantic Terminal Community Center students
Jan 19
BAMcafé

Featured film: The Central Park Five , directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon
Jan 19 at 1pm
BAM Rose Cinemas

Here's an interview that West gave about his book, The Radical King:

Q: Maybe the most radical of King's beliefs were nonviolence and the idea of loving your enemy. You could argue that that was more courageous than the fighting back urged in other corners of the civil rights movement.

A: King was about militant nonviolence. It goes back to radical love: You don't begin by dehumanizing those who are dehumanizing you, because it contributes to the cycle of dehumanization in the world. And you're right: It takes unbelievable spiritual courage, moral fortitude, to engage in militant nonviolence. To put it another way, Martin King was an extremist of love. We live in a world where people are fearful of extremism, but King would say he was always trying to keep the flow of love in place. In that sense, he turned the world on its head.

King's daughter Bernice King writes today that we must all work to commit to embracing a nonviolent approach, "One of the great lessons of the Civil Rights Movement and my father's leadership is that unearned suffering can be redemptive. By making a courageous choice that the sacrifices we must make will serve the cause of a better world, we also choose redemption for ourselves, as well as for humanity."