Classroom Lessons - Blog Posts

Yup. I remember being so confused at the age of 12 when my 7th grade homeroom teacher introduced me as DAIANA (Eng pronunciation: Diana) to the rest of my class. It was my first grade in U.S.A. I had to play it cool because I was learning English and this was the States after all, so I had to start with my name, right? It wasn’t until college I reclaimed my name back: Diana (Spanish pronunciation please, Deeana). Many white folks and color folks ask me why do I bother on correcting people every time they mispronounce my name (which is about 90% of the time) and I say because DAIANA is not my name and I refuse to give up my real name, not anymore.  I don’t need a mispronounced name, I have one of my own. Say it right. 

A message to teachers who refuse to pronounce the names of their students of color correctly. 

In a new video, Adam Levine-Peres, an educator in the Bronx, talks about the importance of teachers, especially white teachers, learning how to pronounce the names of Black and Brown students properly. He says pronouncing the students’ names correctly “will go along way in the classroom”, otherwise there might be lack of trust, students might end up giving up on things like their teacher gave up on saying their name the right way.

Full video Follow Adam on Twitter @projectbronx

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