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Why Black Names are so Unique
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Feb 11, 2025
#blackhistory #blackexcellence #history Why are Black names so unique? Here is the back story. In this series, we examine the origin story of some of the biggest cultural phenomenal in Black society. Subscribe to get notified when we release new videos. Check out the books we love and recommend in our Black Excellence Book Club: https://www.blackexcellence.com/store/ Some links are affiliate links, which means we earn a very tiny commission if you make a purchase. __________________________________________________________ Sharing interesting and noteworthy stories in Black culture. All content provided by Black Excellence Media, LLC is for entertainment purposes only. None of the information or advice provided is to replace professional advice. Website: https://blackexcellence.com
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why don't you like to be called clay
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anymore no clay was not my name clay was
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a white man's name it was a slave name
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and I'm no longer clay I'm no longer
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slave so now Muhammad
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Ali when you think about Black Culture
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in America one of the most distinctive
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and fascinating elements is the naming
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tradition from the creative names like
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Latoya and deson to names with deep
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historical Roots like Harriet and
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Frederick African-American names tell a
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story of resilience adaptation and
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cultural Pride but where do these unique
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names come from and how have they
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evolved over
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[Music]
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time to understand the origins of
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African-American names we need to look
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back at the complex history of Black
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Americans names serve as a window into
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that history reflecting the impact of
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slavery emancipation The Great Migration
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and the rise of black cultural
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identity before the transatlantic slave
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trade African naming Traditions were
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deeply tied to cultural spiritual and
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familial
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practices in many African societies
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names held profound meaning they often
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reflected the circumstances of a child's
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birth the community's aspirations or
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connections to ancestors and deities as
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well as religious or spiritual beliefs
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naming ceremonies were significant
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events celebrating the arrival of a new
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member into the community and affirming
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their place in the
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lineage when Africans were forcibly
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taken from their homelands and brought
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to the Americas these Traditions were
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disrupted yet traces of African naming
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practices would survive and reemerge in
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unique ways over the
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centuries one of the first acts of
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dehumanization during slavery was the
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Eraser of African names enslaved
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Africans were stripped of their original
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names and given new ones by their
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captors often European names that
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reflected their owner identities rather
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than in their own I want to hear you say
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your
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name your name is
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Toby what's your
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name this act was not just practical but
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symbolic severing ties to African
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Heritage and asserting control over the
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enslaved enslaved individuals were
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typically given common English names
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like John Peter or Sarah yet even under
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these oppressive conditions enslaved
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Africans found ways to retain a sense of
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identity they often gave each other
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nicknames or used secret names within
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their communities to honor their African
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roots and maintain a sense of self after
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emancipation naming practices began to
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shift freed African-Americans saw an
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opportunity to reclaim their
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identities some chose new names to
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symbolize their freedom and break from
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the past biblical names like Elijah
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Isaiah and Mary were popular reflecting
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the Deep religious faith of many in the
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black community others adopted surnames
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that carried symbolic weight for example
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some chose freemen to emphasize their
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newly won Freedom While others took the
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names of famous abolitionists or
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historical figures like Jefferson and
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Douglas these choices were acts of
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empowerment asserting individuality in a
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society that continued to deny
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African-Americans full
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equality the early 20th century brought
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the Great Migration when millions of
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African-Americans moved from the rural
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South to Urban centers in the north and
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west this migration not only changed
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where black Americans lived but also how
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they named their
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children Urban environments fostered
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creativity and cultural exchange leading
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to the emergence of distinctive naming
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Trends during this time names with
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French Spanish and other European
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influences became popular reflecting a
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desire to project sophistication and
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worldliness names like Monique Antoine
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and Jacqueline became
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common at the same time
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African-Americans began to embrace
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unique spellings and combinations of
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names this creativity was a way to
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assert individuality and cultural Pride
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setting their children apart in a
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society that often sought to homogenize
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black identities the civil rights
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movement of the 1950s and 1960s sparked
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A Renewed interest in African Heritage
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and cultural identity this era saw a
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rise in the use of African inspired
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names as as well as names that reflected
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black pride and empowerment leaders like
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Malcolm X and organizations like the
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Nation of Islam played a significant
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role in this shift Malcolm X for
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instance rejected his slave name and
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adopted the X to symbolize his lost
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African ancestry what is your real name
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Malcolm Malcolm X uh is that your legal
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name as far as I'm concerned it's my
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legal name have you been to court to
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establish this I I didn't have to go to
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court to be called Murphy or Jones or
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Smith excuse me for answering you this
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way that's if a Chinese person were to
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say his name was Patrick Murphy uh you
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would look at him like he's insane
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because a Murphy is an Irish name uh a
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European name or the name that uh has a
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Caucasian or or white background and a
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yellow person Chinese is a yellow man
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and uh he has nothing to do or no
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connection whatsoever with the name
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Murphy and if it doesn't look proper for
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a person who is yellow or Chinese to be
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walking around named Murphy or Jones or
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Johnson or Bunch or poell I think it
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would be just as improper for a black
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person or the so-called negro in this
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country as we're taught by The Honorable
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Elijah Muhammad to walk around with
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these names others followed suit
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adopting African or Arabic names like
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Amina Jamal and
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kadijah this period also saw the rise of
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distinctly black names characterized by
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unique prefixes like la de and sha these
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names such as Latoya DeAndre and
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cheniqua were often created by combining
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elements ments from different cultural
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influences again in an effort to
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preserve a unique black identity
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Cassandra and her daughter who has a
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very unusual name in fact we can't
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pronounce her name but we can tell you
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it has over 1,000 letters we had to
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create a special graphic for her name
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take a
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look that is her
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name that makes Leticia lesan look
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simple Leticia lashan Shante her birth
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certificate is 2 feet long she has the
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longest personal name in the world
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according to the Guinness Book of World
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Records and we want to ask her mother
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what were you thinking I had to do
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something to break a Guinness book
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record I had to make sure that her name
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was going to be unique I didn't want her
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name to be like anybody else's make sure
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what is her name what is her name
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my middle name is your middle
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name by the 1980s and 1990s hipop
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culture had become a dominant force in
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shaping African-American identity names
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became even more creative reflecting the
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boldness and individuality celebrated in
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the music and fashion of the time
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artists like Tupac Shakur and Nasir
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Jones popularized names with African and
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Arabic Roots inspiring parents to choose
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names that carried cultural significance
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at the same time unique spellings and
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phonetic Innovations became even more
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popular despite their Rich history and
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cultural significance African-American
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names have often been stigmatized unique
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names are sometimes dismissed as madeup
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or unprofessional reflecting broader
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societal biases against Black
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Culture this criticism ignores the fact
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that all names are in a sense made up
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yet African-American names are often
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singled out for scrutiny revealing
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underlying racial prejudices for
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African-Americans names are more than
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just labels they are expressions of
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History culture and resistance they
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represent a journey from Forced
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assimilation to creative self-expression
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reflecting the resilience and Ingenuity
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of a community
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[Music]