Diver?ity
Ricardo Gon?alves
Presenter & Finance Editor of Australia's most trusted news brand, SBS News.
You may have noticed the cedilla in my surname on air and on my social media accounts.
In Portuguese, it's a cedilha.
The letter ‘c’ with a hook under it.
?
It’s also used in some other languages to mostly denote an ‘S’ or a “sss” sound.
But for me, it’s more a visual representation of diversity.
I’ve written in the past about the lack of visible ethnic role models in the broadcast news media, which partly influenced the name I used growing up and eventually on air when I started working in television news in 1998: Richard Goncalves, and the way I pronounced it... Gone-calves.
It wasn’t until I started working at SBS in 2010 when I felt comfortable enough to revert to my birth name: Ricardo Goncalves, along with the way my family pronouoces our surname... Gon-sahl-ves.
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A few years ago I doubled down, acknowledging how important visibility is and used the cedilla in my surname on my social media accounts and eventually on air: Gon?alves.
It’s another way of saying... this is who I am: a proud Australian and son of Portuguese migrants.
Kudos to Channel 10 for also using it when I had a fun guest spot on one of its shows some time ago, without having to ask.
I'm not saying special characters or diacritics like the cedilla should be incorporated into the English alphabet (although the are some examples where words using them are widely used such as fa?ade) and to be transparent, I don't use it in any official documentation.
However, for me, it's use in a visual medium like television, is a nice touch to reinforce the importance of diversity and visibility.
As we approach Australia day, let's all remember to celebrate the differences which make us unique and what makes Australia what it is today. It's a message I'll deliver as Australia Day Ambassador for Shellhabour City Council this year.
Data and Analytics Transformation Leader / Strategy and Insights Activation Specialist / Audit & Assurance Executive / Qualified Professional Researcher / Mentor / Speaker
1 年Thanks for sharing this! Names are definitely one important symbol of diversity. I only started to feel confident to use my original name that starts with ‘X’ a few years ago. For My first job 19 years ago, I was asked to change it to ‘Sh’ so others could know how to pronounce my name. I think Australia is more ready to embrace diversity these days
Writer, comms and media specialist
1 年Good on you Ricardo. Whenever I've encountered resistance to the idea of using diacritics, etc, I tell people that the phrase "feliz a?o nuevo" is a case in point. You don't want to leave the accent out on that one! I know there are grey areas - I don't use the accent on my surname, as it doesn't really add anything or change the pronunciation. But for a lot of words it makes a hell of a difference. And a cedilla makes it easier for people who aren't familiar with the rules of other languages to have half a chance of pronouncing the word properly.
Assistant Director
1 年This is great. I wonder if they'll expand this to languages with non Roman scripts.
Director of Lamb Lowe & Partners Chartered Accountants
1 年Love this! My family are also from Madeira.
Software Architecture | Engineering | Development at Truescope
1 年How interesting. My wife's maiden name is Gon?alves and I am Louren?o. I cringe at the 'Gone-calves' pronunciation as it sounds so unnatural. But my wife and her family have given up and succumbed to it. My family has also given up to the 'Lourenko' pronunciation. Thanks for the inspiration to at least give strength to my kids to insist on the correct pronunciation and use of the cedilha in social settings. First step: change my LinkedIn name to 'Paulo Louren?o ' !!