What is the Say My Name Campaign?
Say My Name is an awareness campaign launched by the Office of Anti-Racism, Equity and Human Rights that aims to represent, learn, and celebrate the names of the members of the GBC community. To meet a number of actionable items in the 2022 Anti-Racism Action Plan, Say My Name creates a safe accessible platform for individuals within the George Brown community to express who they are through their preferred name.
This campaign is an initiative developed by Raymund Hip Loy Lee, a student in George Brown’s Honours Bachelor of Early Childhood Education program. Working with the Office of Anti-Racism, Equity and Human Rights Services, he created the campaign for members of the college community who have shortened or changed their names to make them easier for others to pronounce or who have names that are often pronounced incorrectly.
Our names are part of our identity, and how they are pronounced is important, thus Say My Name is a safe space for all members of George Brown College to choose how they would like to take ownership of their name and identity and how they want to be represented here in the GBC community.
Listen to #MyGBC Podcast
In this podcast episode, Arantxa speaks with Raymund from the Office of Anti-Racism, Equity and Human Rights about the "Say My Name" campaign.
What's in a name?
Hip Loy Lee says personal experience sparked the idea for this campaign. His first name is pronounced Ray-mooned, but people often say Ray-muhnd.
"My name was initially supposed to be Raymundo, but there was a typo on my birth certificate. So, I became Raymund growing up,” he said. “I never knew what my name was supposed to sound like because my mother is Chinese-Filipino, and she has a very thick accent.”
Check out these resources
Indigenous Names
Traditional names are an important part of Indigenous traditions and culture. To expand your knowledge and bring more awareness, please check out Anishnawbe Health Toronto’s teaching ‘Your Name and Colours’. Want to learn more about Indigenous Traditional Teachings? Check out the Anishnawbe Health Toronto website.
Name Diversity
Unsure how to pronounce or afraid to say a student’s or employee’s name wrong? Or just want to learn more about Name diversity, then check out ‘How to get someone’s name right if it’s unfamiliar to you’.
How to Pronounce
Curious to hear how a name is pronounced, check out How to Pronounce webpage to hear the audio pronunciation. This pronunciation dictionary also has the phonetic spelling, meanings and translation into other languages of names.
Chosen Name/Preferred Name
All George Brown students and employees who commonly use a name other than their legal first name can access a self-serve process on Stu-View to make sure their correct name will be displayed.
