The new director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, has created a buzz on social media. His name is Sam Zimbabwe. But a radio st...
The new director of the Seattle Department of
Transportation, has created a buzz on social media. His name is Sam Zimbabwe. But a radio station, Kiro Radio says it turns out that Zimbabwe was not always Sam’s last name.
“We had been asking to get Sam on the show because it
struck me as odd that until 10 years ago, back when he worked in Philadelphia,
he was Sam Zimmerman-Bergman. While he was working in Washington, D.C., he
became Sam Zimbabwe.
I wondered on the show last week why the director of the
Department of Transportation would have changed his name to a country that
until recently was ruled by a dictator, and invited Sam to come on the show and
chat with me about it.
Over the weekend, the department said this about Zimbabwe :
“Did you know that Zimbabwe derives from the Shona name for an ancient town
believed to mean ‘large houses of stone?’ Great Zimbabwe was such an important
part of its national identity that the country in southern Africa was named for
the historic town.
Obviously, Zimbabwe is also Sam’s last name; when he and
his wife got married they combined the beginnings of each of their four family
surnames to form the name ‘Zimbabwe’ — and thereby established their new home
and family on a ‘strong foundation of stone.’ Sam looks to bring the same
foundation to SDOT as we work together to build the city of the future.”
Meet #SamZimbabwe being sworn in office in Seattle. pic.twitter.com/eijhuZL8Fe— Lord Woolwich (@rossanson1) February 27, 2019
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