This week, the Twitterverse exploded when Chrissy Teigen—supermodel, social justice activist, wife to the first Black male EGOT winner, John Legend, and Twitter bad-ass—confessed, that for the last 10 years, she has been too scared to correct people on the pronunciation of her name! Teigen’s, last name is pronounced “Tie-gen” not “Tee-gen.”
For me, a Black girl with a uncommon name and spelling, I totally feel Chrissy. I don’t think I have ever in my life corrected someone, even best friends and family members, who has spelled my name incorrectly. For the record, ShaRhonda is pronounced “Sha-Rhonda” not “ShaR-honda,” also the “R” is capitalized and lastly there is no space between “Sha” and the “Rhonda.” It is ShaRhonda not Sha Rhonda or ShaRonda or Sharhonda; it’s ShaRhonda.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 17, 2018
Whew, that felt good to write that out.
But the truth is, like other people with non-European names, we simply accepted our fate—a lifetime of incorrect spelling and pronunciation of our names. Yet, the one place children should have the confidence to say their names and have them pronounced and spelled correctly is school.
The hard part is that so many of us, like Chrissy and I, have let people mispronounce and spell our names for years.
So, here is my idea, a, “Say My Name Right,” or “Spell My Name Right” challenge. Similar to the Monica Challenge here, or the Kiki Challenge, using the instrumental to “Say My Name” from Destiny’s Child” rap about why people should say your name right. Afterward post it, using the hashtag, #saymynamerightchallenge or #spellmynamerightchallenge.
Watch me do the “Say My Name Right” challenge below!