9. Claim Your Name
How does your name represent you?
“It is through our names that we first place ourselves in the world. Our names, being the gift of others, must be made our own.”
-Ralph Ellison
This challenge was inspired by Matthew R. Kay's work as described in Chapter 6 of his book Not Light, But Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom.
Lesson
As linguistic anthropologist Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein states in her blog post "The Violence of Naming," names have power. And too often, others like to try to take that power from us by refusing to learn how to pronounce or spell our names, giving us unasked for nicknames, or even refusing to make an effort to remember. Yet names are important to our identities. They can shape how we feel about ourselves, how others respond to us, and how successful we are in life. As the poet Hiwot Adilow illustrates in her poem, "My Namesake," it is important that we take back the power of our own names and claim our names.
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In this brief TED Talk, Ma Shwe Shin Win shares her relationship with her name.
Challenge
Your challenge is to claim your name by creating a product that demonstrates to others what they need to know about you through your name.
Take some time to reflect upon your relationship with your name.
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Why were you given your name?
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What does your name mean? Does its meaning reflect your personality in some way?
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What nicknames do you have? Who gave them to you? Do you like them? Why or why not?
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What do you like and/or dislike about your name?
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What experiences have you had, if any, where others have tried to take the power of your name from you?
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What stories can family and friends tell about your name?
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Is your name the same no matter who you are with or where you are?
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Once you consider what your relationship with your name has been, determine what you want it to be. What do you want others to know about your name? How do you want it to be perceived?
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Claim your name. Proclaim your message through whatever creative outlet best fits your message. Consider writing a memoir that tells a story about your name and presents the message you want others to take from it. Or composing a spoken word poem like
Hiwot Adilow. Or creating a piece of art. It's your name. Represent it in a way that represents you.
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Post your proclamation to Instagram or your blog. Use the hashtags #teachwhys #teachwhyschallenge9.​​
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