MORAL OF THE STORY: DON’T CUT MY GREATNESS
11/10/17
My name is Janaya.
With a dragged out southern Juh
a confident, charismatic Ny
and a laid back Yuh.
My name is beautiful. The meaning behind it is glorious.
The process of my family naming me sounds like a magical, complex whirlwind (much like myself).
My name is drenched with the late 90's because of the -ya at the end of my first name and the -nee at the end of my middle. I've never disliked my name or had any urge to change it because it compliments my personality. I always thought my full name sounded like it belonged to a successful black woman at the top of her own empire, so it's also a glimpse of my future.
Although I find the beauty within my name, it's not "traditional" and it gets overlooked.
People bend and break their tongues trying to pronounce it.
I can see them straining and overthinking.
With a brief pause for pronunciation
"Ju--Juh--Jan-nae-yuh? Jan-knee-yuh??"
After they pronounce it incorrectly (at least 3,000 times), they ask for a nickname.
I'd give them one to save time and future frustration.
They would get lazy.
I think after hearing people butcher and strain over my name, I got lazy too.
I stopped stretching my neck out to correct them.
I didn't try to guide them during their pronunciation process.
I didn't even give them the chance to try.
"You can call me Jay"
"I go by Jay"
I allowed them to sell me short. I let them get lazy and they put my name in the pile of other complicated black girl names and forgot it.
Before stepping onto my college campus, I decided that I wasn't going to shorten my name for the comfort of other people. I make sure to correct and remind people of who I am and how I like to be addressed. If I let people cut my name, then I am allowing them to cut my greatness. If I allow that to happen, I am silencing who I am and letting society put me in a category of people who don't put up a fight or try.
Here are my KEY reasons as to why my nickname is a no-go:
#1: I love me. I love who I am. I love what I represent and what I stand for. Why should I cut and alter that because others have difficulty with it? Whether it's just my name or my entire being.
#2: I saw this quote once that said "Don't set yourself on fire to keep others warm" and that's what it feels like i'm doing: making others comfortable and making myself uncomfortable in the process. Allowing people to call me something simple to make things easier and my attitude towards shows how much I value myself. I'm sure you're reading this like "girl..it's just a nickname", but the little things go a long way. If I don't show pride in my name or take charge of how people address me, how can I take pride in other aspects of myself?
#3: As a black woman in America, society is always trying to put us in a cage. We can never be too this or that. We have to filter, modify, and restrict ourselves in so many aspects of our lives because society doesn't want us to realize how great we are and what we are capable of. In order to be great, I have to take charge of my identity and be proud of who I am. A part of me is black culture; anything that attempts to hold us back is a barrier and i’m breaking it. I can’t be an inspiration to little black girls like me if I can’t do something as simple as taking ownership of my own name. If people can take the time to pronounce complicated famous non-POC names like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, then they can take the time to pronounce Janaya.
Moral of the story is...don’t let people put a stop to your legacy before you’ve even began your journey. Even if it’s something little or big, cut off that passive aggressiveness from the root. Little things can escalate.
Also, BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE AND TAKE CHARGE OF YOURSELF! Make sure people come at you correct. Some may look at you like you’re crazy, but you’ll gain respect.
With love,
Janaya.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
It's just Janaya.
