Were you to attempt to "honor" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by applying something to "alter your coloration" and "alter your body’s appearance" (by which I assume you mean wear a wig?) in order to imitate King, what would be your point? Unless you closely resemble him and have a big time Hollywood make up artist doing your make-up, anyone would be able to tell that you were just some guy mimicking Dr. King. Given the tradition of discrimination against non-white actors in Hollywood (whitewashing), of white Hollywood's sometimes deliberate and other times ignorant misrepresentation of people of color (blackface/yellowface), I would say that your method of honoring King would be very misguided and prone to be negatively viewed by people who are tired of being mocked and misrepresented however well-meaning your intentions might be. Neither whitewashing nor racist misrepresentation is "bygone" in Hollywood at this point.