StoryCorps Griot: Nzingha Masani

From: StoryCorps
Series: StoryCorps
Length: 02:02

Nzingha (in-ZING-ah) Masani (MOE-tee-Sah-la) tells her friend, Noah Hairston, about receiving her name at an African naming ceremony. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: StoryCorps Griot: Nzingha Masani
From: StoryCorps

Masani_small Nzingha Masani received her African name at a naming ceremony at Eastern Michigan University in 1974. She participated, though unaware that she would receive her name that evening. She says she was nervous and shy upon being given the names Nzingha (after Queen Nzingha, the warrior) and Masani (meaning "gap between the teeth"). Due to family disapproval, she waited 21 years to legally change her name, and says that she needed to grow into herself and accept who she was before she could make the change. StoryCorps Griot is an initiative to record interviews between everyday African Americans across the United States. In West African tradition, the griot is a storyteller who preserves cultural identity and passes it on from generation to generation. The StoryCorps Griot booth is traveling from coast-to-coast collecting these interviews, which will be archived in the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. To find out where the StoryCorps Griot Initiative will be next, visit the StoryCorps Website. To locate a StoryCorps recording booth, visit News & Notes' new blog, "News & Views".

Also in the StoryCorps series

StoryCorps: Herman and Sidney Blake (02:20)
From: StoryCorps

Herman Blake and his brother Sidney remember their childhood during the 1940s

StoryCorps: Jack and Reagan Richmond (02:54)
From: StoryCorps

Jack Richmond tells his daughter, Reagan, about being an amputee.

StoryCorps MVI: Daniel and Evelyn Hodd (02:20)
From: StoryCorps

Staff Sergeant Daniel Hodd and his mother, Evelyn, talk about Daniel's decision to put aside a promising career as a pianist in order to join the Marine Corps.

Caption: Ruben Aguilar (R) and Bill Luna (L)

StoryCorps Historias: Ruben Aguilar and Bill Luna (02:01)
From: StoryCorps

Ruben Aguilar tells his friend Bill Luna about his family's deportation as part of the Mexican Repatriation Program in 1933.

StoryCorps: Dawn Maestas (04:00)
From: StoryCorps

Dawn Maestas, who removes tattoos for survivors of domestic violence, talks to a client about her work.

StoryCorps: Lucinda Marker and John Tull (02:17)
From: StoryCorps

Lucinda Marker and her husband, John Tull, talk about being diagnosed with bubonic plague in 2002.

StoryCorps: John Cruitt and Cecile Doyle (02:41)
From: StoryCorps

John Cruitt speaks with his former third grade teacher, Cecile Doyle, about how she helped him through his mother's death.

StoryCorps: Reginald Mason (01:57)
From: StoryCorps

Reginald Mason remembers growing up in Harlem with his mother during the 1970s.

StoryCorps MVI: Randy and Judy Pilgrim (02:53)
From: StoryCorps

Judy and Randy Pilgrim remember their son and Iraq war veteran, Army Specialist Lance Pilgrim.

StoryCorps: Louis and Harriet Caplan (02:19)
From: StoryCorps

Harriet Caplan talks to her husband, Louis, about how their relationship began.

Piece Description

Nzingha Masani received her African name at a naming ceremony at Eastern Michigan University in 1974. She participated, though unaware that she would receive her name that evening. She says she was nervous and shy upon being given the names Nzingha (after Queen Nzingha, the warrior) and Masani (meaning "gap between the teeth"). Due to family disapproval, she waited 21 years to legally change her name, and says that she needed to grow into herself and accept who she was before she could make the change. StoryCorps Griot is an initiative to record interviews between everyday African Americans across the United States. In West African tradition, the griot is a storyteller who preserves cultural identity and passes it on from generation to generation. The StoryCorps Griot booth is traveling from coast-to-coast collecting these interviews, which will be archived in the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. To find out where the StoryCorps Griot Initiative will be next, visit the StoryCorps Website. To locate a StoryCorps recording booth, visit News & Notes' new blog, "News & Views".

Broadcast History

NPR News and Notes 8/28/07

Transcript

NM: My name was given to me and the name was Queen Ann Nzinga. She was a warrior, fighter, she fought slavery in Angola. She was a very strong woman, very strong and I'm sitting there -- shy, didn't talk to nobody. And I said, 'Is this going to actually be me?' And this man said, 'This is going to be your name now, and be proud of it.' So I went
on to accept it. I wrote my mother that night, I was so excited. You know, I
wrote to all my family members and I told them all that this is my decision and it's nothing against the name I was given by my father. My best friends, to this day -- I mean my best girlfriend still calls me by my other name and I have to nicely tell her, 'If you talk to me or relate to me you must call me Nzinga or we're just going to end this conversation.' I mean I went on and sent back mail that I got out of my birth name. And I know I hurt my mothe...
Read the full transcript