"Speaking of language is different from feeling it.
One Japanese woman says that when she swears
in English, she feels nothing."
  - Elaine Equi

"A man who has a language consequently possesses
the world expressed and implied by that language
What we are getting at becomes plain: Mystery
of language affords remarkable power, Paul
Valery knew this, for he called language
"the god gone astray in flesh."
  - Frantz Fanon

"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 mark above which the tide
can never rise. ... It is the rallying point around
which a man gathers all that he means by himself.
It is his anouncement to life that he is present and
accounted for in all his parts."
 - Howard Thurman

    This message is foremost for people who support social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierachy and social inequality.
     Very often Progressives who support the social or advocacy of social reform and Liberals whose philosophy  or worldviews is founded on the idea of liberty and equality, allow and succumb to Conservatives, also known as the "Right" or "Right Wing," to name them and causes they espouse. This is not only true in politics per se,  but is evidenced in "Right Wingers" calling their endeavor to keep people from joining Unions "Right-to-Work."

In politics, Progressives and Liberals allow these perpertrators of inequality and social injustice to name them by assuming the opposite name "Left" of "Right." Obviously, "Right," and "Right Wing," claimed by  Conservatives convey  something that is honorable, unlike "Left" and Left Wing" claimed by Progressives and Liberals.  Conservatives embrace the status quo while Progressives and Liberals believe that the Govenment should actively support social and political change in society  for the good of all people. Howard Thurman speaks truthfully when he says,
    "The name marks the claim a man stakes against
the world. ... It is his rallying point around which a man gathers
all that he means by himself."

   If progressives and Liberals are to have others to rally with them and increase their ranks significantly while decreasing the ranks of Convervatives who oppose equality and justice for all, they will have to abandon names that misrepresent them.

Although Shakespeare's answer to the question
"What's in a name? " is wrong when he says,
"That which we call a rose By any other name is
just as sweet," he is right when he says:
   "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
     is the immediate jewels of their souls.  Who
     steals my purse steals trash; 'tis
       something,  nothing;
      'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to           . thousands:
       But he that filches from me my good name
       Robs me of that which not enriches him,
       And makes me poor indeed."

Progressives and Liberals must refuse to answer to any name other than the name or names they have chosen for themseves. They must declare their names frequently and enthusiastically and heed these words of Thurman regarding their name:
   "It is his announcement to life that he is present
   and accounted for in all his parts."

We are who we say we are, not who others say we are. We are Progressives and Liberals. Think for a moment: Who protested during the Montgomery Bus Boycott  to bring about the Supreme Court's decision that desegregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1950s, ( I was there; I was involved.) Who protested, and some died, to cause President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the 1965 Voting Rights Act and 1968 Open Housing Act? Who died that made it possible for these and other laws to be enacted that granted rights enjoyed by Caucasians to African Americans in particular and some other ethnic groups? For damn sure! It was not Conservatives,  Right Wingers, and advocators of Right-to-Work, most prominently represented in Southern States that have consistently opposed every piece of legislation aimed at granting equality and justice to African Americans. Although I was a veteran of the Korean War, I found it difficult to register to vote when I returned to my native State of Alabama. I'll tell you, it was Progressives and Liberals, including some Caucasians.  People embracing Progressivism and Liberalism know only the color of freedom, equality and justice for all.

Call us by our names, or else, we will not answer.

Copyright 2017 by Uriah J. Fields