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There are only two things even remotely amiss with "MLK: The Assassination Tapes," a highly unsettling trip back in time that premieres Sunday on the Smithsonian Channel, 43 years and a day after the beginning of the sanitation workers strike that brought the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, Tenn., and his death. And they are small things at that. First, there is the slightly misleading title, which seems to imply a single cache of hitherto unsuspected, clandestinely recorded or revealing documents.

When President Obama first took office, many highlighted the occasion as a fulfillment of many promises in music from the civil rights era. Songs from the '60s that promised change and lambasted inequality took a new air of poignancy with the first black president in office. As his second inauguration wraps up with Beyonce ravishing the national anthem Monday morning, and on the auspicious occasion of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, here are a few of the landmark songs from that era. Sam Cooke -- "A Change is Gonna Come" The most prophetic song from the era is also Cooke's most beautiful vocal.

MLK: The Assassination Tapes infobox 2/12/12 'MLK: The Assassination Tapes' Where: The Smithsonian Channel When: 6 and 9 p.m. Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday marks the first fee-free day of the year for national parklands and forests in California and nationwide. It's a great chance to explore places that remind us of King 's powerful quest for peace and equality. The deal: No fees means no entrance fees will be charged at 398 parks and 17,000 recreational sites in national forests. In Southern California that means visitors won't need to purchase an Adventure Pass to visit the Angeles, San Bernardino and other nearby national forests.

The drive from Southern California to Mammoth Mountain ski resort can be tough on busy holiday weekends. Pacific Sports Tours is offering a bus trip on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend for skiers and boarders (and families too) that might take the angst out of getting there. The trip includes hotel and bus transportation -- but not lift tickets -- starting at $279 a  person.   Date: The trip is Jan. 13-16; final payment due Dec. 1. Price: $279 a person, based on four to a room (two queen-size beds)

Presented in conjunction with the Skirball Center's "Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968," bassist, composer and bandleader Marcus Shelby offers the L.A. premiere of his "MLK and Jazz" suite in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He is joined by vocalist Faye Carol as well as saxophonist Howard Wiley, pianist Adam Shulman and drummer Jeff Marrs. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. Sun., 7 p.m. $20. (310) 440-4500.

Toward the end of a mostly compelling and occasionally moving new documentary, Cornel West does his best to puncture the image of a benign and nonconfrontational Martin Luther King Jr. West rejects what he calls the "Santa Clausification" of King, fuzzy myth-making that the African American scholar says is "one of the ways in which you defang and domesticate people who are on fire for justice." "MLK: A Call to Conscience" works best when it tends to the words of the provocative West -- revealing a King who was both more troubled, more radical and, yes, even more courageous than standard hagiography typically has allowed.

Put this simple question to the next homeboy you see: "If he were alive, could MLK drop crazy knowledge and make hope dope?" Nope, he tells you. Martin Luther King Jr. has lost his juice among black youth--integration is not the flava' they sava'. The reverend's rap is weak today. In the time it took fathers despised as "niggers" to raise sons self-styled as "niggaz," more than the words have changed. Freedom does not ring familiar, and dreams are the stuff of sports marketing.

In a rare case of an active-duty general charged with criminal offenses, a brigadier general at Ft. Bragg, N.C., is scheduled to face a court-martial Tuesday on charges of forcible sodomy, sexual misconduct and compelling female officers to perform sex acts. Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, a veteran of five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is accused of conducting improper sexual relationships with subordinate female officers and a civilian. Prosecutors say he forced a female captain to engage in sex and threatened to kill the officer and her family if she told anyone.

It is no secret that nurses played a central role in the collapse of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. At the troubled hospital near Watts, registered nurses gave the wrong medications, ignored patients in distress, falsified records, slept on the job and turned down the alarms on critically ill patients' vital sign monitors.

WASHINGTON - A controversial inscription on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, which critics said distorted King's words, will be fully removed after the presidential inauguration in January. The quote in question is a paraphrase from King's “Drum Major” speech and reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” Some critics, including poet Maya Angelou, pointed out that those were not King's exact words and that they had been taken out of context, making the civil rights leader sound arrogant.

MLK: The Assassination Tapes infobox 2/12/12 'MLK: The Assassination Tapes' Where: The Smithsonian Channel When: 6 and 9 p.m. Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)

There are only two things even remotely amiss with "MLK: The Assassination Tapes," a highly unsettling trip back in time that premieres Sunday on the Smithsonian Channel, 43 years and a day after the beginning of the sanitation workers strike that brought the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, Tenn., and his death. And they are small things at that. First, there is the slightly misleading title, which seems to imply a single cache of hitherto unsuspected, clandestinely recorded or revealing documents.

The day set aside to honor Martin Luther King Jr. has become a day dedicated to community activism nationwide. Tree-plantings, school cleanups, food bank organizing and other events planned for Monday underscore one of King's most thoughtful quotes: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?' " To find projects and events happening Monday, go to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service website. For those who plan to hit the road, here are two MLK events within a couple hours of Los Angeles.

Ever heard of Heavenly Pond or Franklin Canyon Lake? Both are part of a serene canyon not far from Southern California's urban edge. Here's a chance to explore the area -- and learn how to take better photographs of these and other natural spots. Capture a Nature Moment is a free walk/photo workshop with photographer Joanne Chase-Mattillo. This weekend, she leads easy nature walks showcasing King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas on Saturday and Franklin Canyon, with the duck pond and lake, above Beverly Hills on Sunday.

If you have free time during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, here's a perfect match: things to see and do that are free. Freebie 1: The holiday weekend means free admission to national parks and national forests from Friday-Monday. Not all parks and forests charge fees, but those that do (for example, $20 a car at Yosemite and $15 a car at Joshua Tree national parks as well as $5 Adventure Pass day fee in the Angeles National Forest) will waive costs on those days.  Freebie 2: Before you go anywhere, grab a guide.

Is Barack Obama a crossover candidate? And, if so, where is he crossing over from and to? Over the past year, Obama has been called a post-racial candidate and has been praised for his ability to transcend race. But such idealistic observations are not only wrongheaded, they fundamentally misconstrue the Illinois senator's complex identity as well as the new understanding he brings to America's ongoing debate over how best to unify our wildly diverse nation.

The percentage of U.S. students graduating from high school within four years rose to its highest level in decades in 2010, while the rate of those who dropped out fell to one of its lowest in years. The latest federal report on public school graduates and dropouts, released Tuesday, paints an improving picture of high school education, but the results vary by location, a reflection of the reality that education policy remains a local issue. Contributing to the improvement was a poor economy, with fewer jobs of any kind available, especially less of the poorer-paying, entry-level posts that can tempt students to leave school.

The drive from Southern California to Mammoth Mountain ski resort can be tough on busy holiday weekends. Pacific Sports Tours is offering a bus trip on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend for skiers and boarders (and families too) that might take the angst out of getting there. The trip includes hotel and bus transportation -- but not lift tickets -- starting at $279 a  person.   Date: The trip is Jan. 13-16; final payment due Dec. 1. Price: $279 a person, based on four to a room (two queen-size beds)

President Obama, civil rights leaders and entertainers will dedicate the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, an event that was postponed in late August because of Hurricane Irene. Gates open at 6 a.m. to the free ceremony at West Potomac Park that's open to the public, with no tickets required. The memorial  near the Jefferson Memorial features two huge stone boulders that give way to a huge stone-carved likeness of King. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation released a list of participants and ceremony details Tuesday.