Filmmaker Marco Williams has become enthralled with an objective correlative and incorporated it into his craft.

An objective correlative?

A phrase coined by T.S. Eliot in a 1919 essay on "Hamlet" in which he claimed Shakespeare failed to dramatise in the character of Hamlet some apparently "intractable material." Elliot's general definition asserted,

"The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an 'objective correlative'; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is evoked."

The set of objects, situation and chain of events that has evoked an emotion in him — curiosity — is the phenomenon of naming streets in American cities after martyred civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Thirty-five years after the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., his name can be found on hundreds of streets in cities and towns in all corners of the country.

New York filmmaker Marco Williams wants to know why the streets continue to be a popular way of remembering King and what they say about the status of race relations in the United States.

''Why streets? Why not other things?'' Williams asked during a recent stop in Montgomery to interview a local historian. ''Why King and nobody else?''

Williams is currently producing ''MLK Boulevard,'' a film that he hopes will answer those questions and stir discussion. Since June, Williams has traveled to many sites, including Montgomery, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Eugene, Ore., to learn the history of efforts - some successful, others not - to name streets after King. He plans to visit more cities across the country before shooting wraps.

The film has been completed and is currently airing on the Discovery Times Channel.

Williams' objective correlative also makes me curious.

* What does it mean to name a street after Martin Luther King, Jr.?

I believe doing so represents a threshhold acknowledgment that African-Americans exist and that some are heroic persons who have played a significant role in molding American society. The acknowledgment is important because until relatively recently in our history crediting African-Americans with anything of merit just did not happen, particularly in the South.

* Should King be the only one to be acknowledged?

Of course not, other persons of color who have made contributions in a state or city should also be recognized in the naming of public spaces such as streets, parks and buildings. Considering the previous omissions, it would be a good idea to name such entities after overlooked minorities and women.

* Does it matter that streets named after King are sometimes in low-income areas that have been allowed to stagnate?

I think it does if the reason for that is the persons responsible think of King as 'belonging' on to the African-American population. The civil rights movement was beneficial for the entire country, not only people of color. So, I think it is appropriate to name any street anywhere after King.