Hi, I remember a while ago (long,long time ago) there was a thread, think started by Kunjufu about rejecting his slave name and adopting an afrocentric surname instead. I'm 19 now and it's something I've been thinking about deeply for some years. I have a Jewish surname that doesn't reflect my heritage or the people that made me at all, we had 1 token jew in the family so it makes little sense to keep it.

I've spoken to some of my family about it in the past (a small portion are afrocentric) and their answer is 'Well we're not slaves now, and the surname means something different'. It's not just the issue of it possibly having been a slave name, it's more the issue of it doesn't say anything about my heritage at all. I understand that for some people the concept of 'Slave names' and rejecting them/keeping them is controversial to some, but for me it's a really important issue. Is it rejecting your family (as some of my relatives think), is it being too militant (which I have been called and disagree with). Would/have any of you changed your names, what was the process like and how did your families/friends react to it?

Anyway the reason for this post is because I couldn't find the original. Thanks