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Changing My Name
"My mother thought that my name should have more 'meaning.' "
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By Musa Barak Aziz
My name is Musa Barak Aziz. My birth name is Delante Marquise Johnson. My mother
decided to change my name five years ago, when she started working with the
Nation of Islam at Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland.
At first, I was really unhappy that I had to change my name. But my mother thought
that my name should have more “meaning.” She didn’t know that ‘Delante’ means
‘in front of’ in Spanish.
I got to pick the new name, and chose Musa, which means Moses. I got accustomed
to it as I used it more and more. But I’d rather keep both names, because different
people prefer one over the other.
My mother always told me that I shouldn’t “venture backwards” in keeping my
old name. But growing up, a lot of people would tell me how cool the name Delante
was. So whenever I feel I should pick a name to just stick with, I remember
all those good things people have said about my old name.
Besides, a lot of people have more than one name, right? I’m glad to be different.
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