I have been asked about my religion. I have also been questioned about my ethnicity. My hair was always dark and curly. My skin color says olive on my amended birth certificate. Being adopted without knowing my birth family, that question was always impossible to answer. I have been asked about my sexual preference and I’m sure some have wondered about my purple tie.

I am proud to answer any of these questions, including what is my name.

Being adopted, I was born without a name. MIchael came three days later.
Diamond Mike came later still. We must first have a name and then define what it means to live up to that name.

I am even more more proud to say what I am.

I am uniphilarsian. It is one who expresses the intense love and respect of persons from diverse backgrounds. My wife is from Guatemala. My friends are from every corner of the world, and many times the only Caucasian person at my workplace is myself. You will not find this word in the dictionary. There was an urgent need to invent a word to negate the horrible word of the year for 2016- xenophobic.

With the help of my friend and master wordsmith, Doug Lowry, we now have a word that translates, “?One who loves, regards, and watches over the unique aspect of every person?.” Uni (all) + Phil (love) + Lars- Latin l?r ?(“guardian spirit”) from Etruscan + ian- meaning of or relating to.?

Fascism is the word vying for first place for 2016 for Miriam -Webster. I would like everyone to type the word “uniphilarsian” in their browsers at least 10 times. This will show search engines that our world is not filled with fear and hate. Or, if you desire, type “puppies” instead. I do not want to tell my grandchild that xenophobic and fascism were the most popular words searched during the year of his birth. Please help us make uniphilarsian hold a permanent place in our minds and in our hearts.

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