Simone A. Francis
Simone A. Francis is the Founder of Anansi Creative Studio and Storytellers Creative Director.
She is a first-gen West Indian educator grounded in community and creative practice. She is passionate about harnessing the power and potential of storytelling and creativity to curate community oriented spaces rooted in social impact and change.
Captured by J. Will
A Name Not My Own
My grandmother's bracelet has her name “Barbara” engraved. It's a name plate, as you would normally see on necklaces, but this one is uniquely embedded in the bracelet. It's a nameplate in gold, but it's encased in a transparent covering. I've never seen another bracelet like it, and it feels everlasting - like it can never be broken or destroyed.
For me, it’s important in the fact that it's from the Caribbean, but also just thinking about nameplates generally and how, particularly in Black and Caribbean communities, name plates hold such significance and you often receive them with your own name when you're young. I received this bracelet at 13 after my grandmother lost her battle with cancer. It was a nameplate with a name that is not my own, but so deeply connected with who I am. When I think about and wear this bracelet, I’m honoring a name of legacy and strength.
I believe that names are central to the point of storytelling. For many, names have been overlooked, ridiculed, and stripped away to disconnect individuals from their identities, and this is why I believe names are so important for us. You may own nothing else in this world, but you can always own your name. Our names carry so much of our stories with them. Even when someone is no longer physically on this earth, you can think of their name and remember their impact and story… and that name and story can be passed down through generations. Long beyond our physical bodies, our stories and our names carry on, and that's why this bracelet is significant to me – knowing that I'm carrying a history with this piece and honoring my grandmother's name; knowing that her name continues to live on.
Her name is spoken all the time with my loved ones as we reminisce and share memories of her. I’d like to think that everyone has a chance of being remembered and honored by their names, especially Black women. Oftentimes within our communities, we are forced to remember a lot of pain, challenging moments, and traumatic memories. But, I believe that names can also help us carry joy and love, and they can be beautiful ties to our past that propel us and help us continue onward.