Why I use my middle name

And a lesson on respect

Afew years ago, I began using my whole name professionally. This decision was partly strategic. The dominant culture was beginning to engage questions of diverse representation and identity, and though these questions had always been prevalent in both my work and life, I felt it necessary to signal my position more clearly. But it was also a personal choice. I wanted to foreground my work, my outward-facing adult self, in the totality of who I am.

When I was little, Kelli María wasn’t a choice but, simply, my name. A baby talk variation…