A personal experience of mine that is echoed in the vignette titled “My Name” is my struggle with my last name. As I shared in class, I have four siblings, and I’m the only one with a different last name. This came about because my dad was in jail when I was born. To be honest, I was bothered by it but not as bothered by the legacy of my last name on my mother’s side. My mother, her mother, her sister, her brother, and so on, were all in foster care and eventually turned to drugs. I hated that it seemed like history was repeating itself when I entered care. I felt as if I would just be another Butler on drugs; I thought I would be alone.
The fear of becoming just another Butler swallowed me whole. The loneliness of my struggle weighed heavily on my shoulders, especially because I was the only one with a different last name among my siblings. In a world where your name is supposed to define you or open doors for you, mine felt like a sentence or a one-way ticket to a fate. I felt as if the weight of my last name was not just a label but a looming shadow.
5 thoughts on “JAHNAY BUTLER DISCUSSION 14”
Hi Jahnay, I’m sitting here reading all of the week14 discussions and yours grabbed my attention. I’m thinking wow that must have sucked to go through at any age but young even worse. To feel like and outsider among your siblings with the different last name. I pray now you’re feeling a bit different about having a different last name. As you know, our last name doesn’t define who we are or at least it shouldn’t. Maybe you’re the turning point for your family name. You’re the special one and always have been. You at you going to college making a positive path to your future. You don’t have to follow in the negative path of the past of your family. You are the one who has the ability to change it. Positive vibes and strength will get you thru. I’m sure the weight of the last name does have that affect and would on anyone, but don’t let it. Like I said before, our last name shouldn’t define who we are. We have the ability to change our path and to take more positive road and not the road of drugs etc. You will be the one Jahnay to change that last name to good and doors will open because of your hard work and determination. You got this girl.
Thank you so much for the support and kind words it’s means the world
Hello Jahnay, as I was reading your post it grabbed my attention because one might never ever feel the pain you’ve experienced. You’re so brave to share your story with the class .i wish you the best with your situation & even tho you have that last name im glad that you were able to do different among the rest of your family who chose the paths that they did . Just keep being great and I wish you the best .
Thank you!!🥹
Jahnay, I really appreciate your emotional honesty here. What you wrote affected a lot of people in the class. From what I see, you have already risen above the implications of your name. There’s nothing that can hold you back from forging your own path, and as Dawn so beautifully put it, being the one who brings a whole new meaning to the name Butler.