Own Your Name

Every morning I start my day with a cup of coffee, gently listening to NPR as I browse over my task list for the day. But when I realized that the topic being discussed on the public airwaves was “6 Words: My name is Jamal...I’m White” as part of NPR’s the Race Card Project, I immediately tuned in, fully. My immediate reaction was, “ I can relate to this."

My name is Saskia, I have a Dutch name but I am of Dominican and Asian descent and was born in Puerto Rico. Yes, I know there’s a lot going on there and you’re probably having a hard time “placing” me in a category. But, I invite you to be uncomfortable and allow (just for a moment) the idea of a world without categories. Perhaps, my testimony can help.

For a very long time I would shorten my name and even change it slightly so that others could feel comfortable; never once realizing that every time I did that it would chip away at my identity piece by piece. Until one day in college I was confronted by a sorority sister of mine who said “Don’t ever compromise your name for the sake of someone else’s ignorance.” That stuck with me, and I’m so glad it did.

Since then, I have become more aware and intentional about embracing my name and the multiple identities that I represent. An example of this is writing out my name phonetically everywhere possible as well as learning more about my culture and expanding my awareness of the levels of ancestry that lies within me. I also use my knowledge of the subject to talk to my students about these issues as a flock of them can also relate to issues of sacrificing identity especially in college spaces. This is why multiracial/multicultural spaces are invaluable to college environments and society in general.

“The Call to Teach: Multicultural Education” published by Dr. Matthew Lynch on the Huffington Post expands on the importance of multicultural education in K-12 communities. But I would go even further to say that multicultural education is important no matter what the environment. What can you do for a student that struggles with issues of cultural identity? How will you educate the person that may have insulted you by mistake? What steps will you take to better understand the diverse world you live in? These are some of the many questions that every human being should reflect on, and make the necessary adjustments to meet the needs of the environment we live in today.

I now, Own My Name and will never compromise who and what I am for anyone else, again!

Saskia Augustin is the MRKC Regional Representative for Region II.