Denver, Colorado, Denver School Board Vice President Auon’tai M. Anderson announced this week that he is reclaiming his birth name to encourage students to not be ashamed of their names or allow anyone to shorten their names for others’ comfort.
Vice President Auon’tai M. Anderson was elected to the Denver School Board in 2019 and is the youngest member ever to serve on the board. He stated, “On August 30th, 2022, I instructed the Denver Public Schools to update my name on our website, nameplate, and all official records to reflect Auon’tai M. Anderson. I am beginning this journey of loving myself, starting with reclaiming my identity.”
Earlier this week, Vice President Auon’tai M. Anderson released a medium post explaining the reasoning for reclaiming his birth name.
Reclaiming my identity:
“I am Auon’tai M. Anderson, As we close out the second week of school, I was taken back to my days in elementary school, and I remember vividly being in a classroom and my teacher made facial expressions of frustration because she could not pronounce the first name on the list. She struggled to get past the letter A, and she attempted numerous times to pronounce my name “Awon … then she stopped and said
“Antwonay” the class laughed as she struggled, and eventu- ally, I said, “last name Anderson, I’m here.” She laughed and said yes, how do you say your name? I responded with its Auon’tai. She stared at me and said, “Oh, I can’t pronounce that. Do you have a nickname?” I said, “No,” and she said,
“Well, I will call you Tai. I am going to drop the first half of your name.” She moved on to the next student without allowing me to respond.”
Link to the full article: https://tayandersonco.medi- um.com/reclaiming-my-identity-i-am-auontai-m- anderson-293171e46164
