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Christopher Stewart has always had to repeat her name after introducing herself. Her parents always wanted her to have a foot in the door, no matter where she stepped.
The name Christopher is typically reserved for men, with two of the most well-known being Columbus and Wallace. However, for native New Yorker Christopher Stewart, people are taken aback to discover that she, a Black woman at the age of 40, has Christopher as the name given to her by her mom and dad. In an interview with TODAY, she explained why the name holds power to her: because her parents wanted her never to lack when it came to her future.
“They knew that being a woman — and a Black woman — meant I would face obstacles,” Stewart told TODAY.com. “They gave me the education, the experience, the manners and the integrity. They also gave me a name they believed would be dominant on paper and help me get my foot in the door.”
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In a TikTok video Stewart uploaded, she played along with the popular “Netflix Documentary” trend, highlighting the fact that her parents gave her a traditional white male name to get her resume pulled all the time.
It’s a subtle version of corporate code-switching. Some Black men and women have taken on simpler, easier-to-pronounce names to cut through awkwardness or even rejection by potential employers. In other avenues, it has also led to a couple of double takes, such as actress Michael Michele, who starred in “New Jack City” and “The Sixth Man” on the big screen and had major roles on “New York Undercover” and “ER” in the mid-90s to early 2000s.
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As a child, Stewart told TODAY that she went by Chrissy, given that she didn’t understand the magnitude or importance of her parents’ decision until she came of age.
“When you’re moving through the world, and you start experiencing discrimination or racism, or you see people changing their names to be recognized, it all clicked,” she told the outlet. “My parents were definitely ahead of their time.”
Even as a child, she noticed when teachers would call her by her full name and expect a boy to raise his hand, only to be shocked when they discovered the name belonged to a Black girl. The situation has repeated itself whenever Stewart has pursued various job opportunities. Except now, the name goes from a moment of shock to a full-blown conversation starter.
Ultimately, Stewart now sees her parents’ decision as a gift, removing the barrier of being denied solely because of her name and prompting potential employers to look at her work and who she is as a person.
“After that, it’s up to me,” she said.
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