What's in a name?

My name is Taylor Kiara Keyes. I've always hated my name. My first name is my mothers maiden name and my last name is my dads last name. My middle name has a long story behind it. When my mother was pregnant with me she asked all of her coworkers to submit a middle name idea. One of her good friends submitted the name Kiara. My mother wasn't very fond of the name, but about a week before my birth, he died in a motorcycle accident. My mother named me Kiara in remembrance of him. Kiara is also an Irish name meaning "dark haired". Coincidently I have dark hair. My name doesn't really define me, but it does describe me.

Being an individual and also a part of a larger whole can be difficult at times. You want to be yourself and the person everyone else wants you to be. I constantly find myself putting what I want to do on hold in order to make someone else happy. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, but it would be nice if it didn't have to happen so often. The problem with being one person and also a part of a whole is you either let yourself down or let others down. It's a very hard decision to make. At the end I chose to be myself and let others either except me or reject me. It's one of the only options.

Creative Arts High School (My Mom and I Were Homeless) St. Paul MN from Wing Young Huie's album Homelessness, Accessed 9/7/2014.



The photograph depicts a young woman in Minnesota. She is wearing multiple layers and scarves and her hair is a mess. at first glance, she "looks homeless." She is holding chalkboard sign. the sign reads "My mom & I were homeless for nearly a year. It wasn't our fault. Now I want to be an artist and own a café".

Looking at the surface of the photograph we just see a young woman with aspirations to be an artist that owns her own café. She was homeless for about a year and maybe feels that her dreams will never come true.

If we look a little deeper the idea that homeless people are in their situation because of their own actions emerges. this isn't always the case. Homeless people today are often reffered to as "the homeless" the word people is removed as if they are animals. Society views these people in "reduced circumstances" as subhuman and unable to succeed (Atwood 8). By taking and posting this picture, Wing Young Huie gives this young woman as well as other homeless people a voice.


Atwood and Huie both present the idea of "others." In The Handmaid's Tale, the handmaids are the others, in Huie's work, the homeless are the others. Both Atwood and Huie present theses others as the main focus instead of passing by them as many people do. By making others the focal point, Atwood and Huie give these people a voice and give other people a new perspective.