Beautiful Blessing

To all of the people who never want to pronounce my name correctly,

My grandma did not name me Yemima so that I could mispronounce it just for it to

fit into your mouth.

My name was not given to me just for you to butcher it with your tongue syllable by syllable, letter by letter.

How dare you disrespect this gift of six letters that my grandma gave me?

Let me spell it out for you: Y-E-M-I-M-A

Pronunciation: Ye-MEE-Ma

Not Ye-MY-Ma!

Not Ye-Me-NA!!

Not Ye-Ne-Na!!

Not Je-My-Ma!

YE-MEE-MA!

YEMIMA!

Six letters and three syllables.

It’s not that hard.

Yes, my name in English is Jemima, but I was born with Yemima!

Oh and no, I was not named after the Aunt Jemima maple syrup!

I admit that back in eigth grade, three of my grade school friends would call me “Aunt Jemima” every time we would have pancakes at school, but that was just for jokes.

They still respected the power of my actual name every day, unlike you.

I was named after the oldest daughter of Job, from the Bible.

I was named after a woman who’s father never gave up on God even after he lost everything that he had.

I was named after a woman who was known as the most beautiful woman in the land.

My name symbolizes that I have beauty.

Just because my name is too beautiful for you to pronounce correctly, that doesn’t mean I should feel sorry for you.

Although I used to be.

I used to be embarrassed every time my name would break as you kept butchering it with your tongue.

My name has been broken so many times I felt like I had to be the one to apologize just because you can’t pronounce 3 syllables.

I was embarrassed on how you kept killing my name by mispronouncing it just because it’s not a white—I mean— right fit in your mouths.

“Yemina”

I’m sorry!

“Ye-MY-ma”

I’m sorry!

“Jemimah”

I’m sorry!

I was afraid that you killing every letter in my name would somehow kill the power of my name.

My name has so much power in it you have no idea.

This six letter gift I received also has a meaning.

It means “a white dove”.

My name is a symbol of all the beauty that God created since the beginning of time.

My name is beautiful!

I am beautiful!

Periodt!

Periodt!!

PERIODT!!!

My name is not something that you should mess with.

My name is not yours to play with.

My name is a blessing in six letters and three syllables.

YEMIMA!

YEMIMA!

YEMIMA!

Y-E-M-I-M-A!

A blessing in just six letters and three syllables.

Yemima!

My name symbolizes that I am a beautiful blessing.