The Perks of Freedom: Naming Our Children/African American Names.
The end of slavery brought with it the ability to select names for one's children, children who could no longer be taken, and sold away at a moment's notice. Reflecting this change, former slaves often gave their children names that indicated ownership or affection such as Iona (I own her), Anita (I need her), Eudora (You adore her), Sheila (She's loved), Herman (Her man), Husband, and Brother. Others chose names that would require (white) people to address their children with respect such as King, Queen, Prince, Isabel (Is a belle), Idabel (I'm the belle), Missy (typically reserved for the mistress or eldest daughter of a white home), Mister, and Madea (from My Dear or Mother Dear - usually a nickname or term of endearment). Some Black schools mandated that teachers address each boy as Master _____ to instill a sense of self-worth and the worth of others. Some still do. Many of these names and words predate this period and have other etymologies but were adopted and repurposed by freed Black people in this way. In some families and communities, they have been passed down for generations. There is very little education about Black history, so much of this has been lost. In the 1950s through the 1970s, a myth prevailed that our African identities and heritage had been stripped away and replaced with nothing that was uniquely ours. There was a movement to create an African American identity marked, in part, by the borrowing of names from French, Arabic, Swahili, and thin air. Many of us did this because we did not know that there were already names unique to African America. We did not realize that we did have a heritage and culture, outside of the sludge left by the horror and trauma of slavery, that is strong, proud, brave, and valuable. I had an Aunt by marriage named Queen, my brother's childhood friend is named King, I met a guy in Berkeley, California up from Mississippi named Husband, Anita Baker sings songs about our great capacity for love, and everybody knows Prince. #blackhistory#history
