Say My Name.
How do we say our names? or better yet, what do our names say about us?
Why is it so accepted for society to alter and muddle our names for convenience? What does this say about history, language and assimilation? In America there is a negative stigma attached to names rich with accents and rolled letters. They are in constant danger of being silenced, and butchered. In this chica project workshop, led by poet Angélica Maria Aguilera, participants learned to reclaim the power of their names by first looking at their origins and meanings.
Whether they are hyphenated, or perceived to be hard to pronounce, or butchered and shortened for convenience. . .our names are our badge of honor.
Watch Angélica Maria Aguilera’s spoken-word poem: For the Girls with the Long Names and be inspired by your own name. Your own story. Your own badge of honor.
“I like to think the longest names,
the longest to pronounce names,
the rolled-letter and accent-heavy names
—in fact—
are forewords to the memoirs most worth reading.”
