What is the story of your name? What shapes your Blackness?

These two questions are at the heart of a fascinating project called ‘The Story of Your Name’ by The Armah Institute of Emotional Justice, a global non-profit based in Accra. It is a story-telling celebration, education, and healing on global Blackness in Africa, the US, the UK, and the Caribbean throughout the month of September.

The Story of Your Name uses voice notes where participants share the story of their name, who named them and why, and what shapes their Blackness. The stories are coming from Ghana, South Africa, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Caribbean, the UK and the USA.

The project draws an audio map using voice notes that brings us into worlds of personal histories of family, nation, oppression, freedom, healing, love, pain, and power.

‘These stories are funny, moving, insightful, thought-provoking. There’s beauty, love, trauma, pain, power. You get a history lesson in a story that is just 3-5 minutes long,” says The AIEJ’s CEO, Esther Armah.

“We’re drawing an audio map using voice notes to build a sonic bridge of healing with a global Black soundscape”, she explained about the project’s intention.

‘The Story of Your Name’ is an Emotional Justice project.

Emotional Justice is a racial healing framework that invites global Black people to heal from a legacy of untreated trauma that shapes their emotional economy of identity as African and Black people.

‘The Story of Your Name’ is part of ‘HEALING HARM | HEEDING HISTORY’.

Launched in September 2023 by The AIEJ, HEALING HARM | HEEDING HISTORY is a
multi-year initiative focused on healing between Black people in Africa and in the Diaspora with in-person and online events and campaigns.

The September 2023 in-person launch event took place at the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD) at Adenta Municipality. It fused drum, dramatization, and dialogue featuring Ghanaian artist, Pearl Korkor Darkey, Diaspora connection, and community engagement.

The launch was with sponsorship from and in partnership with the Ghana Tourism Authority, The Beyond the Return Secretariat, The African American Association of Ghana, The Ghana Caribbean Association, and Ahaspora. ‘The Story of Your
Name’ is Year 2 of this multi-year initiative, HEALING HARM | HEEDING HISTORY.

September is Black-on-Black healing month. Each year in September, The AIEJ calls for Africa and the Diaspora to focus on the emotional identity of Africans and global Black people who need healing. The AIEJ believes a thriving fiscal economy of investment requires a healed emotional economy of identity.