By Christopher S. Cummings
Complete decolonization begins with the mind, and, if your traditional name embarrasses you, then you are still psychologically colonized.
In post-war Liberia, this is one of the silent but most common forms of neo-colonialism that have taken control of our naming system for decades, yet continues to be ignored. This stratum of neo-colonial influence on our names needs to be resisted by accepting what is traditionally ours, stopping our excessive attachment to Western names, and teaching the new generation the power and Africaniness embedded in our traditional names.
One of its most powerful manifestations is what I refer to as the “name-shame crisis” Some people refuse to publically respond when called by their native names, while other hide them on official documents. This behavior may seem harmless, but it exposes a deeper problem: “mental colonization”. This represents the zenith of psychological colonialism, even among the so-called literate class.
This pattern affects all our names, whether first or last. Many have been mentally condition to believe that Western names are more beautiful, civilized, or respectable. While this behavior may appear ordinary, it reveals the depth of mental colonization that still exists among our people.
The colonizers were skillful in psychological warfare; they deliberately changed our forefather’s names, as a strategic move to create a social divide between themselves and the natives. Today, naming has become a renewed tool of neo-colonialism. Even in many households, sponsors have the tendency to change children’s last names as a symbol of ownership or control over their existence, a case which affected my indigenous name.
Colonization was not only physical; it was psychological.
It has heavily influenced our naming systems in post-war Liberia, to the extent that people are often accorded respect or social status based solely on their last names.
Our colonizers were strategic in their attempt to erase our history, culture, pride, and identity. Our names are our history and culture; they are vessels of pride and identity.
The colonizers understood that to control a people, one must first weaken their sense of self-recognition. Altering names was a psychological strategy used to divide Liberians and create artificial hierarchies.
Names like Nygbah, Saye, Zolu, Tamba, Koi, Gbehzohngar, Kpoto, Tokpah, Flomo, Kolllie, Gotobai, Yakpawolo et al are often treated as inferior while Cummings, Tolbert, Thomas, Wilson, Urey, Roberts, Johnson, Mclain et al are viewed as more accepted beautiful superior names in the minds of psycho-colonized. This silent crisis shows how colonial logic still shapes our identity.
It is time we confront this struggle and begin to truly decolonize our minds, starting with the names we bear and the pride we attach to them. We are not free from mental colonialism until we stop being ashamed of our real names.
