Are You Ashamed of Your Black Girl Name? Me Too…
LISTEN TO EP 17: ITUNES | SPOTIFY
I don’t have any tips or tricks for you this time around. This episode is just me sharing my story with you. I wanted to share a story that has affected my self-esteem and sculpted me as a Black woman. It’s the story of my name and the shame I have carried for so long with it.
My full name is Tyeisha.
Nobody calls me Tyeisha— only some very close family. In an effort to not be so Black, I go by Ty. To be honest, I was planning to legally change my name for a while, but I just haven’t. I remember when I started blogging, I thought nobody would hire me if my name was Tyeisha. On paper, before you see me, I am Black. And it is a fact that this changes things for people who are hiring.
I felt like I couldn’t be Tyeisha. I had to be Ty.
Even though I don’t want people to start calling me Tyeisha now, I do feel like I have begun to shed the shame of my Black girl name. To all of my Black girls with names full of personality: love up on your name. We shouldn’t have to sacrifice our names in order to survive.
Hope you loved this episode. If you did, please do me a favor and submit a review on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also be sure to subscribe to the podcast so that you can be the first to get new episodes. And I’d like to encourage you to share this episode on IG stories, Twitter, Facebook. Make sure you tag me, I am @tyalexander on IG and @lovetyalexander on Twitter. Just share it, girl!
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