What's in a byline? Uh, me, for one thing

By Daschell M. Phillips
Spring 2000 Scholar

Posted: Oct. 4, 2002

Daaashell? Deeeshell? Duhshell?

No, Daschell!

Ever since I have been able to talk I have been correcting people's pronunciation of my name. I know it's not the other person's fault. My name isn't spelled the way it sounds, which is Day-Shell.

But it's still frustrating.

Like every other little girl with an unusual name, I often wished I had an easier moniker. Why couldn't I be Lisa, Tina or Brenda?

After hearing that very question several hundred times, my mother explained it to me:

My father, who for some reason began spelling my name with an e at the end but didn't spell it that way on my birth certificate, chose the name. It was a combination of the names of my maternal grandmother, Daisy, and my paternal grandmother, Rochelle.

Daschell.

No "e."

When I learned this (I was maybe 8), I became proud. I began to like having a unique name.

But the pride did not last long.

Being young, black and female, I was having enough trouble merging into the work force without worrying about future employers and associates getting my name wrong.

It's worrisome to think that if your name is not easy to remember, you could be passed over for a job, because no one likes to be constantly corrected.

Daaashell?

Deeeshell?

Duhshell?

No, Daschell!

And then, there's the whole issue of the byline.

So, as I moved into the work force, I decided to make a minor adjustment to my name, making use of my (much easier) middle name, Marie.

Decisions, decisions. Should I go by D.M.P? D.M. Phillips? How about D. Marie Phillips, or Marie D. Phillips?

Then, in the Spring of 2000, I went to Chips Quinn orientation, where I met Dennis Hernandez, a Los Angeles attorney who came to speak to us about journalism and the law. I sat next to him at breakfast.

We introduced ourselves.

He mispronounced my name.

I corrected him.

Which led us to the topic of name pronunciation. He gave me the same advice he said he gives his daughter: Be proud of your name -- and make sure people pronounce it correctly.

He went on to tell me about his daughter, Gabrielle, and her battles to have her named pronounced correctly, even by him.

His words of wisdom helped, but I still was sick of hearing my name being butchered. So I was determined to change it.

That next week I began my internship at The Oakland Tribune. On the first day I was assigned a deadline story that would require my byline.

I chose D.M. Phillips and went on with my day. As time went on I began to think about the decision I made. I began to regret it.

As I sat at my desk I kept thinking, who is D.M.? Would people at home and at school really believe that was me? Am I erasing the memory of my father and grandmothers? And, most importantly, am I really being true to myself?

So, in a fit of guilt, I rushed over to the managing editor and asked her if it was too late to change my byline. By the grace of God, it wasn't.

So now and forever, I always will be known as Daschell M. Phillips.

No matter how many times I have to correct you.

Daschell Phillips is a graduate student at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She was a Spring 2000 Scholar at The Oakland Tribune. Reach her at dmpwriter1@aol.com.

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