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[Applause]
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my name is Jota Mesa I recognize that my
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name is not a familiar one to most
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people that I meet I encounter names
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that are new to me as well this is an
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occurrence that we should come to expect
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because names come from the immense
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number of ever evolving languages in the
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world yet what we commonly do when we
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find ourselves in these new
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introductions is we continue on with the
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conversation and we likely will just
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avoid saying that person's name through
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this in action we have missed out on an
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invaluable opportunity to connect with
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others on a deeper level I'm sure many
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of you have heard of the effective
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communication strategy to occasionally
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mention the other person's thing while
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you speak to them this leads to a more
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meaningful and personal dialogue because
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we generally enjoy hearing our names and
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brain research supports this with
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evidence of a unique activation that
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occurs upon hearing our own names rather
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than the names of others now because my
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name was mostly mispronounced throughout
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my life I didn't always love hearing it
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in fact I hated my name I didn't want to
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draw any more attention to it so I would
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never correct anyone who mispronounced
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it especially not my teachers so in the
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second grade I thought it was high time
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that I make the executive decision to
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change my name so the brainstorming
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began as I pondered upon what normal
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name would be closest to Jota Jota Hooda
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might be closest to Heather I then
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thought about my last name eisah which
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means Jesus in Arabic and yes everyone
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Muslims do love Jesus
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so I thought and thought and then I've
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got it the next day with great pride and
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my head held high I announced from now
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on you can call me Heather Jesus not my
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most creative moment so I'd laugh when I
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recall this memory but I've also come to
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reflect upon why it was that I felt this
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need to change my identity see I was
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born and raised here in America clearly
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this was not a high profile photo shoot
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I grew up in a neighborhood where my
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family was a minority as Muslims and as
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Arabs so as you might imagine there
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weren't too many other hoods walking
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around I was an avid reader as a child
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and like most American children I
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watched some TV and movies all the while
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subconsciously I was absorbing the
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notions of what the normal names were
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according to the names of the characters
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I most commonly encountered and then
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there was the always hopeful yet
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somewhat pitiable search for huija among
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the H section of name bracelets and
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souvenirs always a letdown but I
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understand that those names that I saw
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were generally more common in those
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places and those names continue to be
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the more common names at some lists by
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cultural families throughout our history
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and still today succumb to the pressure
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to abandon the names of their original
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languages and cultures in order to give
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themselves and/or their children a name
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that they have come to understand will
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be deemed more acceptable in the society
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they live in this pressure to conform
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began with the indigenous people of our
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land who were literally forced to
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conform and today for many people in
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their own ways they still feel they are
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being forced to conform
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and changing our names is just one
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example of this another illustration of
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this is that so many of us now feel very
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removed from that other world that we
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come from no longer being able to speak
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another language that our ancestors may
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have spoken or understanding the
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cultures of the people and places of our
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roots I get the idea that we should all
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follow the same laws in order to live in
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civil and safe communities but does that
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really mean that we all have to look the
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same and sound the same and think the
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same we are members of the most powerful
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and influential species on earth and one
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of the factors that makes that so is our
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ability to communicate a great variety
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of thoughts and information here in
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America this amazingly diverse place
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filled with the power of possibilities
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that comes from learning from people
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with origins from nearly every region on
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earth we are in a prime position to take
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advantage of those benefits now I myself
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am no stranger to those pressures to
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conform because I've wrestled with them
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most of my life what I wasn't aware of
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is that while I was a victim to those
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limiting beliefs I was a contributor as
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well this epiphany occurred for me in my
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undergraduate studies here within the
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University of Michigan while taking a
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course called multiculturalism in
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education it was only then that I
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realized that I was racist
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I was prejudiced without a second
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thought
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I openly made statements like well of
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course all fill-in-the-blank people do
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that or are like that this realisation
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shook me to the core how could I have
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those thoughts about others when these
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are ideas that I've been challenged with
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virtually as far back in my life as I
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could recall I placed all of them in the
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same small box that others put me in
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that seemed narrow box that I was always
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struggling to make my way out of this
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humbling truth is not a lonely story I
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did what many of us have done and many
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of us still do when we dismiss that all
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others are as distinctively individual
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as each of us truly are I knew right
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then and there that if I gave in to the
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expected feelings of shame and regret
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which no one enjoys I would only
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continue to build a wall around the
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potential for what I could learn and
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what I could contribute to the world
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instead I used this pivotal moment to
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clarify what the sources of those
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beliefs were and how it was that I
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couldn't show empathy when I had all of
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the material to do so right there before
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me in my own life experiences I started
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where we all begin childhood what were
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the greatest influences in my life then
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it was immediately clear that I couldn't
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blame my parents or my faith which
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consistently taught me to show respect
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for all of creation
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I've been considered what other
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influences surrounded me and this is
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when I began my learning of unconscious
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bias you see regardless of our
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backgrounds from a very young age we
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begin and continue to form unconscious
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biases based upon what we've been
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exposed to and when it comes to various
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groups of people we will find that what
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we've been exposed to is usually limited
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and often biased now if I was unable to
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interact with a large number of people
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from these supposed backgrounds what
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beliefs would I form about them based on
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the minimal representation I did see and
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when it came to images of those who
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represented some of my own identities
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they weren't always depicted in the most
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positive light either this yielded not
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only biases for others but inevitably
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biases and allure
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self-esteem about my own identities with
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this heightened awareness and continued
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reflection I began taking down that wall
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brick by brick and what I found before
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me was this uplifting expanded view and
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a greater ability to reach out to my
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fellow brothers and sisters in humanity
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this led to an undying enthusiasm to
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foster unity through knowledge so I
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entered one of the most influential
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careers to allow me to do so when I
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became a teacher on the first day of
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school rather than just calling off
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names while I took attendance I resolved
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to ask my students to teach me their
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names now granted this came with a
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little bit of resistance with some
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students saying oh no Missy said you
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just say it the way you want to but I
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insisted that they teach me to say their
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names the way their parents say their
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names this minimally altered beginning
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led to children having an increased
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confidence in their names and also
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having a more genuine interest in
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learning about the identities of others
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among many other remarkable side effects
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of this practice one took me by surprise
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when one of my then third graders who
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only spoke English approached me and
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said Miss ISA
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kelud Arturo Hamza and Allah are going
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to be in my group and he said it just
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like that
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he said ha ha
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ah rah and these are all sounds that are
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not in the English language as adults we
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know trying to predict pronounced sounds
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that are not in our native language
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isn't usually the easiest feat but for
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children it absolutely can be now if
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this child ever decides to take on the
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wonderful endeavor of learning other
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languages and those languages might use
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some similar sounds he will now be
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better able to communicate fluently in
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that language and therefore be better
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understood
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there were so many teachable moments
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that came from this practice and I
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really wanted to share them with as many
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others as I could so when I couldn't
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find a children's book focused on this
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topic I decided that I needed to write
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one myself my book teach us your name is
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meant to empower children to teach
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others how to pronounce their names
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correctly to embrace our awesome
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diversity and to show more respect for
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their own identities and the identities
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of others my hope is that we will soon
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swap out the lens in which we use to
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view names of applicants candidates
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students so that we are just as
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comfortable in meeting Ayano
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Behati and fabian as we are in meeting
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anna Bethenny and Frank
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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my passion for helping others tear down
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those walls that limit our potential
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continued as I went on to become a
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consultant in diversity equity and
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inclusion where my slogan is opening
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minds connecting worlds and we can begin
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doing so through this seemingly simple
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idea of the thing we all have in common
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around the world we were all given a
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name I'm going to use my own name to
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illustrate how we might go about doing
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this my first name is Hooda
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Hooda is pronounced like the hood of a
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car
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hooda admittedly I don't love comparing
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myself to a car part but whatever works
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hi duck repeat after me
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Hooda ha music to my ears
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Hooda is an Arabic word meaning positive
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guidance my middle name is the name of
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my father Allah humma and what I stated
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just now in Arabic is basically the
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equivalent of may God rest his soul it
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is a common tradition for many Arabs to
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give all of their children the same
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middle name of their father's name one
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of the reasons for doing this is that it
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allows for a more specific descriptor of
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who that individual is so you're less
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likely to confuse me with one of my
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cousin's or someone else who shares by
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lessening you'll also probably be
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quicker to figure out whose siblings and
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parents are upon hearing their names my
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father's name was Musa Musa is Moses in
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Arabic in fact there are so many names
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that we hear that may sound foreign to
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many of us but there are actually names
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of holy mention in the Abrahamic faiths
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and if you recall my last name I saw
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meaning Jesus models this as well I now
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love my name and all that it stands for
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I am one who seeks and strives to
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deliver
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positive guidance I'm an advocate for
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freedom and social justice
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like Moses was and in doing so I promote
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peace and understanding as the beloved
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Jesus did now those are just some of the
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ways that my name benefits me but how
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does it benefit others consider the
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knowledge you gain from learning my name
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you learned how to pronounce and now
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know the meaning of an Arabic word Hoda
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you learned that it is common practice
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for Arabs to have their father's names
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as their middle names you learned that
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there's an Arabic blessing that is
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commonly stated when mentioning those
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who have passed away you learn that
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names that sound familiar or sound
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foreign may actually be more familiar
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than we think and you also learn that
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Muslims do love Jesus now imagine all of
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the conversations that could stem from
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those insights and the further knowledge
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to be gained even if you have an
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apparently common name there is a story
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behind that name that represents your
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distinct place in our shared world in
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your name you will find history
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languages locations customs bloodlines
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beliefs and complexities that are as
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intricate as the tightly woven threads
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of the fabric that makes you you our
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names serve as symbols of the evolution
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of who we are today and we can use them
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as keys to open countless doors that may
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have otherwise remained closed so let's
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use these keys that we all have to
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expand our minds and increase
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understanding so as to lay the
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foundation for increased unity because
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through unity comes strength around the
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globe and nearly up we exchange names in
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nearly every introduction to another
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fellow unique soul our names are where
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almost every relationship begins
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so let's utilize that beginning to start
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a new norm where rather than
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telling us your names you teach us your
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names
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
