I, Goodman Manyanya Phiri like
your ethnological theme on Facebook, Mr Sabelo Mnukwa! E Nkosi Kakhulu! Ndiyabulela kalokhu ukleleklele THOU ART A WISE MAN! I like your ethnological theme even though I
know I am journalistically being dumb to respond to it on my blog rather than
on Facebook and on Facebook alone.
However, and for the general
readership, I am at war with Mr Jacob Zuma and too often in warfare , rules are
being ignored as such that regulate civil relationships, let alone journalese. So please forgive any of my infractions by writing this!
OK, Mr Mnukwa, you asked about
the meanings of African names and a topic that touches me dearly (and you asked
so well that you even put your own name history which I will attach at the end
of this post, if highlighted).
Goodman Manyanya Phiri is my name
although I prefer being called “Manyanya”, rather than the English-sounding “Goodman”
which has its Zulu/Nguni equivalent of “Keeper of the household or UMGCINIMUZI
or Gcinumuzi”, which is the original name my Swazi/Nguni-speaking mother had
originally given me at birth with my late brother having been name Vusumuzi
which means “Raiserof the Family Name” because he was the first boy child my
father had ever conceived (with me obviously be the second).
Well, at the bottom of it all, my
parents did struggle to name me, it seems. I mean I probably got my first name
"Goodman" when I was already at school. First, my ethnic-Malawian
father thought I would be "Goodwill" until he discovered that Goodwill
is also the first name of the Zulu King Zwelithini and thereafter because of
respect to the King, Papa decided I should be named (rather as His Majesty) "Goodman"
because of my reported taciturn or silent habits as a child namely I WAS JUST A
SWEET CHILD RARELY COMPLAINING, RARELY NAUGHTY AND MOSTLY SAYING NOTHING TO
ANYBODY.
My middle name is Manyanya; and
as for that it seems like my father (who also bore the same for his
middle-name) had an ancestor who had the name. Manyanya interprets to
"short-tempered-one" in Nguni.... note:: my ethnic-Malawian father
has his ancestors in present-day KwaZulu-Natal and in fact my paternal great
great grandfather (Pikamalaza) was the commander of Zwangendaba's military forces
that defied Shaka Zulu and trekked north-eastwards up until Tanzania during the
Mfecane/Difaqane of the 19th century.
My surname is Phiri which of
course is the world's oldest royal surname in the with even the Bible even
quoting it (albeit with some corruption from “Phiri” to "Pharaoh")
Phiri ruled the entire world even
before the the so-called white man and woman were born (our children as
Africans).
So I am proud to be me and a
greatest hater of racism whether white racism or black racism.
I am looking forward to the day
when all humans very globally can embrace as one race and one species without
minding the looks; and I am ready to fight and if need be die for those ideals.
HOWEVER, I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR
YOUR TOPIC OR THEME MR MNUKWA; FOR WITHOUT IT I WOULD NOT HAVE THIS POST ON MY
MUCH-READ BLOG::: THANK YOU!
Malaika Wa Azania [Mr Sabelo Mnukwa]
Comrades, if you don't have a colonial name, please tell me what the meaning of your name is. Afrikan names always have significant meaning. For example, a girl child born after there has been a death would be called Maleshoane. Or a child born when there was conflict in the family would be called Daluxolo because they bring peace by virtue of being born. Or a child born when the family was in serious fights (often with regards to paternity) would be called Dipuo. Or a child born in a succession line of children of the same gender would be called Phindile...etc. So please explain to me what your Afrikan names mean.
My full names as they appear on my ID are Malaika Lesego Samora Mahlatsi. Malaika is Kiswahili for "angel", obviously my mother believes me to have been God-sent, i suppose. Lesego is a Setswana name meaning "luck". I don't know why i have a Setswana name because none of my parents is Motswana and i am Sotho myself. But i was named that because when i was born i was very ill with what is known as "phogwana" (i don't know what it's called in English), so they feared i'd die. But i was lucky, i survived, hence the name "lucky". As for Samora, well, the former leader of FRELIMO, Samora Machel, was killed on the 19th October 1986. On that same day in 1991, i was born. So it's a commemoration to him, and a celebration of Mozambique's greatest revolutionary.
So let's discuss the meanings of your Afrikan names and it possible, share the history behind the name.
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| South African Phiri nuclear family |
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| daughter Sibusisiwe Tamara Phiri (3) with a bleak future in South Africa where Mr Jacob Zuma is persecuting the father for standing up against Mandelasque-Xhosa-Nguni racism where Zuma call Mandela "Father of The Nation South Africa"...father also persecuted for standing against black racism where light-skinned South Africans' brains and contributions are treated by Jacob Zuma as meaningless and deleterious 'just because Apartheid was run in South Africa in the name of all Caucasian people'. But the self-same Zuma is forgetting about the contributions made by such ethnic Caucasians as Neil Agget and many others who fought to death in declaring that Apartheid was just a mere evil system rather than a "white thing". |
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| Me and my wife on the eve (or-so) of Year 2013 |
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| Miss Tamara Sibusisiwe Phiri (3) |
