PROUDLY IGBO! U.S Professor, Rachel Dolezal Officially Changes Her Name To Nkechi (Photos)
Rachel Dolezal, the former head of Spokane, Washington’s NAACP chapter who claimed to be black before her parents ‘outed’ her as white, officially changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo in a Washington court in October, legal documents obtained by DailyMail.com show.
Nkechi, short for Nkechinyere, is a name that originates from the Igbo language of Nigeria and means ‘what god has given’ or ‘gift of god.’
Diallo, meaning ‘bold,’ is a last name of Fula origin. The Fula people are a Muslim ethnic group thought to have roots in the Middle East and North Africa, who are now widely dispersed across West Africa.
Since the revelation about her race two years ago, Dolezal, 39, has had a difficult time patching her reputation back together and providing for herself and three children.
After applying for more than 100 jobs, including a position at the university where she used to teach, she says that no employer will hire her. A friend reportedly helped her pay two months of rent and Dolezal said she expects to be homeless.
Shortly after her name change last fall, though, Dolezal employed her newfound identity to try to garner a small amount of positive attention.
She started a Change.org petition in October urging the TEDx organization to post one of her controversial speeches from April, 2016 at the University of Idaho. She listed the petition under Nkechi Diallo, never mentioning her birth name.
