As we told you earlier this week, Rachel Dolezal is struggling. The mother of three claims to be broke and soon could be homeless, as she told The Guardian she had only been offered jobs on reality television or in the adult film industry. This, despite allegedly applying for hundreds of jobs since losing her post as the former president of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP.
Her name is infamous at this point, which would likely be a big reason she’s had trouble finding work. Therefore, it makes sense to want to change it. But in true Rachel Dolezal fashion, it couldn’t be a simple change.
According to The Daily Mail, Rachel Dolezal changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo. She reportedly did this in a court in Washington back in October.
Nkechi is a shortened version of the Igbo (Nigerian group) name Nkechinyere, which translates to “What God has given” or “Gift of God.”
No specifics on Amare (which could mean “beloved”), but Diallo is a Fulani (a widely dispersed West African group you can find in Nigeria, Guinea, etc.) name that reportedly means “bold.”
As she told The Guardian, she doesn’t plan to embrace anything but her idea of blackness at this point in her life, so the name change to something of the West African influence is not a shocker. Doesn’t make it any less random, though.
“I do think a more complex label would be helpful, but we don’t really have that vocabulary,” she said. “I feel like the idea of being trans-black would be much more accurate than ‘I’m white’. Because you know, I’m not white. There is a black side and a white side on all kinds of issues, whether it’s political, social, cultural. There’s a perspective, there’s a mentality, there’s a culture. To say that I’m black is to say, this is how I see the world, this is the philosophy, the history, this is what I love and what I honour. Calling myself black feels more accurate than saying I’m white.”
She still has a book set to be released next month under her old name. It’s called In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.
Image via AP
