DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University's annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration this month will feature keynote speakers, a vigil, service engagements and musical performances to celebrate the life, work and ministry of King.

Many of the events are free and open to the public. The theme of this year's program is "Where Do We Go From Here?: Overcoming Inequity and Building Community."

Labor leader and activist Dolores Huerta, who worked alongside Cesar Chavez on behalf of farm workers, will give the keynote address at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, in Duke Chapel. The event is open to the public, and Spanish translation will be available. The event will be webcast live at http://www.chapel.duke.edu/media.html (click on "Watch Live"). A recording will also be available.

Emmy-award winning independent filmmaker Orlando Bagwell is scheduled to speak at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15, about his work co-producing "Eyes on the Prize," "Citizen King," and the PBS documentary series "Africans in America." Bagwell is currently a director at the Ford Foundation. He will speak in the Richard White Lecture Hall on Duke's East Campus. The public is invited.

The African Children's Choir will perform at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18 at Page Auditorium. The choir performed previously performed at Duke to a sold-out audience. Priority seats will be given to Durham Public School students.

Other scheduled events for the 2010 King commemoration, Jan. 15-25, include:

-- Alysa Stanton, the nation's first African-American woman to be ordained as a rabbi by a mainstream Jewish seminary, will speak at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. Stanton leads a congregation in Greenville, N.C. The event in the Bryan Center's Reynolds Auditorium, titled "Chaos or Community: A Mosaic of Dr. King's Living Dream," will also showcase performances by student groups including Purple, the Center for Race Relations, Def Mo and In Motion, as well as local poets.

-- "I AM the Dream," a gallery exhibit of mixed media art by students at Durham's SeeSaw Design Studio, will be on display on the first floor of Duke's John Hope Franklin Center beginning Jan. 13. The high school students were asked to examine through their artwork what Dr. King's dream means to them. The exhibition hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free and open to all.

-- A MLK march and candlelight vigil will begin at 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18, on Chapel Drive and conclude at Duke Chapel.

-- The Million Meals Service Event will package 50,000 meals to be sent overseas to crisis-burdened areas and school lunch programs in developing countries, such as Haiti, Bolivia and Ghana. The event is co-sponsored by Duke, North Carolina Central University and Southern High School. The volunteer project takes place at Southern High School, from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20. Transportation will be provided for Duke students.

-- Duke Habitat for Humanity will be working with the Durham chapter, students from Holton Career and Resource Center and Habitat homeowners to build sheds to be sold in the Habitat Restore Center. The project will begin at 8:15 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, on the West Campus quad. Profits from the project will be used to build Habitat homes.

For details and an updated calendar of events, go to mlk.duke.edu.