Monday, September 29, 2008

whats in a name?

Man... Names are one hell of a thing to live up to... Whether it be the name given to u at birth or the things other people know you as... I mean even though people wouldn't admit it... Many of us live up to the names that others give us.... Its kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy... We need to be more careful what we call and expect of people because from my experience the line gets pretty blurry between us calling something how it is and the person acting out to live up to expectations... Does a person act like a nigga because he is one or because we call him one? Is that girl a bitch to you because that's how she is or is it because even if u don't say it to her face you're proclaiming her to be a bitch.... Is that girl really a slut or hoe? And who r u to make that call? I am a firm believer that language and words shape our perceptions no matter how u mean the word... That is why I personally chose not to use the word nigga to refer to one of my fellow brothers or sisters of any race... I absolutely refuse to put that burden on someone else and I ask respectfully that u don't place that on my shoulders... With a name like Najee which translates to savior from Arabic, I already have too much to live up to....

1 comment:

M* said...

hey I had to write a essay on that in my eng class, how funny. i braille ya.