Wahala! Ms. "I identify as Black" got herself a NIgerian name, but the Nigerians "don't claim her". If she knew what that meant she would carry that fake name and leave Igboland asap! For real, nothing like loving yourself as you are;-)
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2017/03/rachel-dolezal-new-name.html
I actually just posted it because the whole thing really cracked me up, especially this part "We reject her attempt to attach herself to our glory, through that first name. And we bind it by holy ghost fire that this classless wonder of a being will not prosper at sullying our country name. It is not my portion to know this woman as my country kin, as she is an enemy of progress. WE DO NOT CLAIM HER, O." Typical Nigerian pentecostal-influenced hyperbole, to be taken only half-serious. My comment was
ironic of course, I thought that would have been clear.
I don't see that as an angry sister rant though, I see it more as a fundamental cultural misunderstanding, if you wanna get analytical about it.
African culture is not individualistic like our Western culture. In our Western culture it's all just about me and my identity is how I want to define it, but in African cultures and most of the rest of the world your identify becomes meaningful in relation the family, clan, tribe, community you are part of. The wellbeing of the social group is more important than that of the individual, if you wanna generalize it. Naming in Nigeria is serious business and not a casual affair. They hold elaborate naming ceremonies when a baby is born where the parents and other elders in the family (I mean each person) can give the child a name that is meaningful to them and says something about the circumstances surrounding, his birth, his origin, his destiny etc. So the child might end up with some 10 plus names, but only one or two are used. With that naming ceremony the baby is now part of the family and community and has all the rights and responsibilities that come with being a member of that social group. The concept of belonging is indeed very, very important to them, that's why you hear questions like, "Where is your (ancestral) village?" all the time because that tells others where to put you, so to speak. The name itself carries a lot of information, too (meaning, language, tribe, sometimes identity of the father). So a name is not just a pretty decoration or something people call you so you can hear them. So for them if someone just gets up one day and says, I am no more white ("you reject your identity? you crazy!"), rejects "her father's name" ("you reject your parents?" "abomination!") and takes up a completely unrelated name, wanting to force yourself into a group so to speak that you have not asked whether they accept you and you aren't related to them makes no sense at all for them and would generally be filed under "western craziness". I'm sure Ms Professor of African Studies Dolezal-Diallo would be able to confirm some of what I just said. So if she is really so crazy about becoming African and wants to belong so badly, what she should do is travel there, find some local chief who wants to adopt her (I am quite confident she'll find someone who would get a good kick out of having a white daughter), go through the appropriate naming rites, and voilá, now she has an African name that is not just sanctified by an American court but by the Africans themselves.
Oh yeah, just for the record, I personally couldn't care less what name she has, she can get a Chinese name if she wants. I just have the impression there is something wrong psychologically.
What do Nigerian women concern themselves with? Well, I don't think anyone is getting sleepless nights over this story. But then, If we want to talk only about what people get sleepless nights over, we wouldn't have any much to say on this forum at all, right? Nigerians concern themselves with all sorts of things under the sun, mostly useful ones in light of the economic situation they are facing there right now, sometimes also with whom their brother got married to (i.e. myself)
That'd be another thread...
Happy weekend everyone!
