In this discourse I offer my personal reflection and elucidation on expressions of three distinguished authors on the term "name,"or the lack thereof. In a nutshell, their combined views about name or the lack thereof constitute a paradigm in which insight can be gleaned as to the signficance of a name.

The first view about "name" is evidenced in this statement by Howard Thurman. It focuses on "namelessness." He asserts:

           It is a strange freedom to go nameless
          up and down the streets of other minds
          where no salutation greets and no sign is
          given to mark the place one calls one's owm.

No-name diminishes a person and makes him an object rather than a subject, without human rights. For this person, even while alive, his tombstone is marked with "X,:" signifying he is unknown. Being nameless he may be considered to be a nuisance, in other people's way or a vagabond without a place that is his own. His abode is likely to be in a ghetto or barrio, even when he is physically elsewhere.

The second view about "name" is presented by James Baldwin in his book "Nobody Knows My Name." He writes:

      The world tends to trap you and immobilize
      you in the role you play."

And he could add, "the role the world  wants you to play." In his essay "What it means to be an American," Baldwin also addresses "What it means to be an African American" who is called by many names that are not his name. This brings to my mind the misnaming of the people who occupied the so-called New World in 1492 A.D. when purportedly Columbus discovered America, an assertion Sitting Bull and his kindred rejected as a blatant lie. On Columbus's arrival to the so-called New world which he believed to be India, he called the people he encountered Indians. Apparently, he nor others with him, never asked these native people their name. Instead, they gave them a name.

The third view about  "name" is described by William Shakespeare in "Othello." He wirtes:

      Good name in man and woman, dear my
      lord , is the immediate jewel of their souls...
      But he that filches from me my good name
      robs me of that which not enriches him, and
      makes me poor indeed.

As Shakespere observes, "filches from me my good name and makes me poor indeed" is robbbery. It is bad-mouthing, libelous accusation and character assassination meant to bring dishonor where honor is due. I recall when I was a boy growing up  in a hamlet in Alabama the name "Fields, bestowed upon my paternal Grandfather, as the first person in my family to have it as a surname, had a significance not only for my family but for the community-at -large and beyond. White people living in that commuinity and vicinity could be heard saying when I and other boys in the Fields' family were in their  presence, "Those are Fields' boys," which meant that we were not just some other black boys, but were to be respected by them. I cannot remember how many times my parents could be heard saying to me and my siblings "Remember you are a Fields." That meant we were to behave with restraint and exercise self-respect and respect others.

There are many people who have been seriously damaged or destroyed as a result of having been divested of their good names. "Sticks and stone can break your bones," as the saying goes, but names can destroy you.

In "Romeo and Juliet" Shakespeare makes a statement that is in juxtaposition to his earlier cited statement. He says:,

         'Tis but thy name is my enemy... what's
          in a name? that which we call a rose by 
            any other name would be just as sweet."

"A rose by any other name would be just as sweet" seems to be in contadiction to the earlier name identification "filches from me my good name...makes me poor indeed." This kind of name substitution "a rose by any other name would be just as sweet" when applied to a person's name can be like taking the label from a package of pepperiment candy and placing it on an arsenic package which when the content is taken into a person's body it can be fatal. This is no less true as to the consequences from being misnamed.

A good name, in words, deeds and identity, has the power to create, enhance, inspire and produce a legacy that can benefit future generations.

Another one of Thurman's statements describes the power of a name. He writes:

     The name marks the claim a man stakes
      against the world, it is the private banner
      under which he moves which is his right
      whatever else betides.The name is a man's
      water mark above which the tide can never
      rise. It is the thing he holds that keeps him
      in the way when every light has failed and
      every marker has been destroyed... . It is
      his anoucnement to life that he is present
      and accounted for in all his parts."

Indeed, it is a strange freedom, or, is it un-freedom? to be adrift in the world of people, to go nameless, not be known by your name or be deprived of your good name. Either of these is a curse, not a blessing.

Let me close on a personal note. My father named me "Uriah," which means "the light of Jehovah." Whether or not he knew the meaning of my name I cannot say, however, because he was a spiritual man, I know he was directed by the Spirit to give me my name, a name that has been a significant factor in my living, the way I behaved, felt about myself and others, my values, achievements and commitment to my unique purpose. I am convinced that my name, Uriah, has accounted for me being favored by God and people. 

What's in a name? Who I am is embodied in my name. Hopefully your name has equal value for you. For me my name is above every other name, except for my Creator.   I recognized that the created human cannot, in name or otherwise, be above his Creator.

Copyright 2013 by Uriah J. Fields

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