If A Nigerian Child Can Say Schwarzenegger, Why Can't A British Child Say Owusu? | Molefi Asante

"They told us our names were too hard to pronounce. So we named our children after the people who colonized us." In Kenya you'll meet a Johnstone. In Nigeria, a Patricia. In Ghana, a Comfort Elizabeth. But in London you will not meet a Chikwendu. In Paris, you will not meet an Amara. This isn't about preference. It's about what happens when you're taught your identity is a burden. In this powerful lecture, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante presents a searing piece from Echoes of Africa that traces the erasure of African names from colonial policy to the present day: → In Belgian Congo, you could not be baptized without a so-called Christian name → In French West Africa, African names were banned from official documents → Missionaries made European names a requirement for salvation, schooling, and employment → Today, parents choose Daniel over Dubaku before the baby even breathes — fearing their child will be mocked, passed over, or asked to repeat their name 5 times at Starbucks Meanwhile the colonizers never adapted. A British man named Bartholomew expects you to pronounce it correctly. A French woman named Genevieve won't simplify it for you. But Chimbuze becomes Chibs. Chukwu becomes Oni. We shorten ourselves. "Adaptation is what you do to survive — not what you do to thrive." Your name is not just sound. It is history. It is identity. It is resistance. When you erase it, you participate in your own colonization. When you reclaim it, you take back power. 🎓 Dr. Molefi Kete Asante is the founder of Afrocentricity, professor at Temple University, President of the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies, and author of over 70 books.