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What is the significance of the name “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo” in "Everyday Use"?
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The name "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" in "Everyday Use" symbolizes Dee's attempt to reclaim her African roots and assert her self-determination, reflecting the Black Power movement's practice of renaming to reject Anglicized names linked to slavery. However, this renaming also shows Dee's disregard for her family heritage, as she views her original name, Dee, as a symbol of oppression rather than pride.
In the story, "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" is Dee's new name. Her use of the name symbolizes the "renaming" practice by African-Americans during the heyday of the Black Power movement in the 1960s and 1970s.
During those decades, many African-Americans who supported the Black Power Movement decided to discard their Anglicized names. They believed that those names were an insulting reminder of their slavery heritage. So, many chose Afrocentric names like "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" to signify a reclaiming of their original African roots. Many also chose Afrocentric names to symbolize their revolutionary zeal for self-determination.
Interestingly, the name "Wangero" is also significant from the author's point of view. During a speech at the "11th Annual Steve Biko Lecture at the University of Cape Town" on 13 September 2010, Alice Walker spoke of a much admired friend from Uganda. The name of this friend is Constance Wangero. It was Constance who inspired...
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Alice to rediscover her African heritage.
In the story, the name "Dee" (Wangero's original name) originates from Dee's great-grandmother. So, the name "Dee" is significant in terms of the narrator's familial history.
Meanwhile, Wangero's significant other is called "Hakim.a.barber" or "Asalamalakim" (as Wangero's mother humorously calls him). The name "Hakim" is Arabic in nature and usually means "wise." In the heyday of the Black Power movement, many African-Americans also chose Arabic-sounding names. This is because the early Black Power movement encompassed the black nationalism of the Nation of Islam.
In the story, Hakim tells Wangero's mother that he acquiesces to some of the doctrines held by the beef cattle owners. However, he chooses not to associate himself with the farming lifestyle. Here, the name "Hakim" is likely a reference to his support of the Nation of Islam.
References
Names are very important in Walker's fine short story "Everyday Use." They represent a relationship to heritage and identity. When Dee renames herself Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, she's trying to claim the right and ability to control her own destiny. She wants to be the person she decides she should be. That's admirable, but she does so in a way that sets aside her family's heritage, and, in a way, shows a lack of respect for it. Dee doesn't see it this way. She says, "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me." For her, the heritage isn't one of pride, but of oppression, even shame.