Thandiwe Newton? good grief!!!

It really is nauseating, when human beings try to be too clever!
I suppose people can ask to be called whatever they wish to be called: Sting, Bono, Thandie or Thandiwe etc. With most Chinese folks in the west going from Chuhai to Charles etc. Nothing wrong with trying to blend in or just insisting people make the effort to be ok with difference – and if we all effortlessly learn to pronounce famous names (Tchaikovsky and the likes), a bit of respectful patience could help us pronounce other less famous names and we also somehow learn to pronounce Llewellyn correctly, so why not chukuwami? and Jesus not being the biblical Jesus!

But seriously!!?? what a shower Thandie Newton is!? Absolute hypocrite and attention-seeker. I am assuming all those slaves and descendants who had no choice in the names they were handed, now need to change John to Jabana and Philip to Philidwe to demonstrate their independence and freedom? What utter tosh! When it helped her blend in and succeed, Thandie was handy. How about handing over all the $millions she made as Thandie and then go and start from scratch as Thandiwe and see where that gets her? There is absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out that over the past few decades, and it still ongoing, people have faced disadvantages if they show up looking one way or the other or if their name isn’t Steve or Jane —- there’s been several demos of that over the years, with CVs and how people gain employment or get left behind. But there are other marketing reasons why many actors and actresses want cool-sounding names: Walter Bruce Willis preferring Bruce Willis to Walter Willis and many entertainers just picking new names they deem cooler or their bosses forcing them to do so. And it isn’t just about going from Brumabana to Bruce!

And as for Thandiwe’s tearful apology for being apparently privileged because she says she has lighter skin and should have stood up more for the darker skinned folk: seriously??! what an absolute joke! has there been and is there an ongoing prejudice? of course. But for goodness sake!!! this virtue-signalling is fast becoming worse than the prejudice itself. This creation of another layer, another step, the ”look at me, whites are number one and I am number two due to my light skin and feel so sorry for these darker number threes who are always getting such a raw deal. Well Thandiwe darling, you are now part of the creation and promotion of that “number three” status, whether you know it or not.

Absolutely nothing wrong with her saying, look, I’ve always liked my full name but got lumbered with Thandie for decades, by those who thought Thandie was cooler and blends in better, the same people who told Whitney Houston she needs to straighten her hair to fit in better and sell more records, the same people responsible for the £multibillion skin bleaching industry today? and for the caste system in India or for Eileen Gu being more marketable than Naomi Osaka?, and now that I can afford to kick back against all that, I will insist on being called Thandiwe and perhaps, shine some light on this issue.
What she may need to note, is that there are still many Thandiwes out there, who cannot yet afford rejecting Thandie. Just look at criticism of the superbowl half-time show this week: go figure…

There are people without arms, legs, eyesight etc. out there , who are getting on with life. Others with disabilities with people laughing at them etc. Our dear Thandiwe’s sitting about crying about lightness of skin and all that cack! Yes, it is horrible to be ill-treated differently because of the colour of your skin BUT for fig’s sakes!!! there’s a lot more going on out thee Thandiwe! get off your shallow horse and get real!!!!

But seriously, what is to be achieved? Yes, there are issues, but NO, Thandiwe, No, no, no. Make your personal choices but give it a bloody rest please! millions of dutch, scandinavian, polish, jewish and other settlers anglicised their names over the years and yes, perhaps not in an effort to be accepted or as the necessary step to get by, but jeez! ease up Thandie or Thandiwe! give it a rest PLEASE!!!!