NameCoach Guest Blog - by Christine Priester A few weeks back, during the chaos of the election, I came across an article that addressed the issues related to correct name pronunciation as it relates to politicians. In the article called “What it reveals when senators repeatedly mispronounce the names of Kamala Harris and Sundar Pichai” by author Harmeet Kaur, the author describes how Sen. David Perdue lacked the [...]

NameCoach Guest Blog - By Rev. Tracy Kronzak, Strategic Platform Advisor, Now It Matters Tom Black, Chief Innovation Officer at Paradigm, made a recent guest blog post in the NameCoach that pulled at my heartstrings. In it, he writes of deep truths regarding who we are as connected to our life experiences and identities. He asserts the importance of names and pronunciation as foundational for truly including a person [...]

To support efforts to raise awareness of racial injustice, NameCoach is providing full name audio files for a partial list of Black Americans killed by police.  It is intended to support those who are encouraging the public to hear and say these names, to help recognize their humanity and memorialize them. It is also intended to support the correct pronunciation of these names in national discourse. The names [...]

For many, this Independence Day has a renewed sense of meaning.  As we celebrate the founding of this country, we remind ourselves not just that America declared independence, but did so in a way that invited the world to affirm the core principle underlying that declaration:  that all people are created equal, and consequently have an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s easy [...]

NameCoach Guest Blog - By Tom Black, Assistant Vice Provost, Johns Hopkins University The pursuit of social justice is on everyone’s mind these days.  Mostly it is thought about in the context of destroying systematic cultural and economic practices that were intended to advantage select individuals within our society.  These practices are and have been unfair and inequitable, and we are now grappling with how to change them, [...]

The events of the past weeks have weighed heavily on many of us.  I feel outrage, sorrow, and solidarity with Black Americans and minorities across the world who suffer deep injustice every day.  Black Lives Matter.  The freedom to live and breathe is inviolable.  Racism is intolerable.   The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many others are sickening. Personally, they are a painful reminder [...]