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I& #39;d like to share a few thoughts about a book that I used in a unit based on identitieS while discussing the topic of & #39;& #39;what& #39;s in a name?& #39;& #39; I was teaching in a diff school&the majority of my Ss were SOC.I wanted to use this book 2 emphasize the importance of honoring our names
+ how names become racialized in Western societies. This book was also a way to open up about my childhood. So, I 1st asked Ss to tell me everything that they assumed about me before/after seeing me. I was a new teacher.
Here we go: & #39;& #39;based on your first name, we thought that you were W & Ossia (wh is my married name) sounds Italian.& #39;& #39; Me: Ossia is actually Arabic but I& #39;m not Arab. I& #39;m from the Middle-East & grew up in France.
& #39;& #39;I was a refugee, then I became French, now I& #39;m an immigrant in the US.& #39;& #39; After this intro, we discussed about our multiple identities, how nuance is important in our narratives, what it means to become a POC, be a POC in France & the US
Sorry for the digression but this is my teaching style. When Ss feel comfortable about sharing out, I won& #39;t stop them. This is what I call & #39;& #39;classroom discourse.& #39;& #39; We share, ponder, reflect, make connections
Back to the book. It& #39;s not a #CI Reader but an #authres: written by a native-speaker for native speakers. It& #39;s called Mustapha. The story is about this boy who can& #39;t speak French. We don& #39;t know where he& #39;s from. However, based on his name & this pic, it& #39;s open season 4 assumptions
Mustafa who has not a name & a country will eventually meet Maria who has a cute cat. This is how the story ends
So, as a non-W teacher from the Middle-East who could be Mustafa& #39;s auntie, I chose this book to emphasize the importance of names who reflect cultural narratives. Narratives of loss in the case of Mustafa & so many of us
despite my commitment to decolonize my mind & curr, I chose a book that inivisibilizes Mustafa. He will only reclaim his name & identity when the W character teaches him how to say his name. Before that, he was invisible.
We& #39;ll never know where Mustafa is from.His country is called & #39;& #39;le pays d& #39;avant& #39;& #39; & his only memory about his country is based on flames & destruction. So, this traumatic experience wh will NEVER fade away (believe me on this one) is treated as a parenthesis.
Mustafa will be fine however. He used to feel invisible but Maria will give him agency. She& #39;ll give him a voice. Empower him to say his name. Do you see why this is problematic?
I read this book to my daughters (9 & 6 at that time). They had questions.& #39;& #39;is the writer from the same country as Mustafa& #39;& #39;? & #39;& #39;why does Mustafa speak French with his mom when it& #39;s obvious that he doesn& #39;t speak French?& #39;& #39;
& #39;& #39;It& #39;s too easy to think that Mustafa will have a happy life thanks to Maria. Why is Maria blonde btw? How about all the racist stuff that ppl will associate with his name at school?& #39;& #39;
