I asked ChatGPT this question,
“What does it mean to be given your African name?”
This was the response…
“What does it mean to be given your African name?”
This was the response…
Receiving an African name often signifies a connection to one's cultural heritage and identity. It can symbolize a sense of belonging to a specific African community, honor ancestors, and express pride in one's roots. Many African names have deep meanings and reflect aspects of history, values, or qualities. The process of receiving an African name might involve a ceremony or discussion with elders, and it can be a meaningful way to embrace one's heritage.
This is something that happened for us on this trip. Might seem a trivial thing to most, but it was a pretty moving experience as our ancestors had their names taken from them and given different names.
If you think about the power of words and the names of things they can connote positivity or negativity and basically define a thing or a person.
For this country to go out of its way to give us a name, a name with meaning, positive meaning, was such a powerful blessing to all of us!