Global Kids' Online Leadership Program

Sunday night Oct. 14th, 2007,

In her mismatched sweat-suite -- brown plants, orange shirt and a gray scarf tied haphazardly on her head, my mother held on tightly to the high-powered iron she had acquired from one of those perpetual Macy’s sales, and started to meticulously shape my clothes into a person.

“Leslie Ann,” she screeched, slightly raising the iron from my brown cotton slacks, “I am only going to do this once, then you will have to learn how to iron properly.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I replied venturing back into my jungle of a clothes -- searching for more things that she can iron. Off course, I know how to iron, but having a Caribbean mother who grew up in a concentration camp generation of straight pants seams, A line skirts, and the cleanliness is next to goodliness concept--it’s always impossible to please.

As she goes on about clothing, my sister Arlene called on my cell phone to wish me good luck on my first day of work with Global Kids.

“Have fun and don’t be afraid,” she said, while she shushed my niece who eagerly played in the background.

“Thanks,” I said with a flowery smile.

“You should go to bed early,” she added, “yah don’t want to be at work all sleepy.”

I turned on my parents and sibling autopilot response and barmy said, “ah…..okay…..” -- quickly handing my mother the phone, so they can have their Sunday debriefing session about household items, their weekly social forecast and the unbelievable cute things my niece had done that day.

Everyone was excited about my new job as an Online Program Assistant with Global Kids. I was also, but a bit afraid. I have been a commitmentphobe in every aspect of my life: I opted out of having a cell phone contract because two years seemed a like a decade.

For the past year I have been working as a freelance journalist because I love writing, but partly because I had autonomy over my schedule, and in my grandiose mind of a geeky writer: If the Government ever called me to do a secret spy job in London, I would be able to drop my work immediately and answer the call.

Now, I was planning on having a full-time job, 9-5 (a counterfeit hipster nightmare). But my life’s dreams were greater than my fear.
My life’s dreams snippets:
A. Becoming a famous well-respected writer.
B. Using digital media to expand conventional African (in the Diaspora and continent) storytelling.
C. Advance my knowledge on how digital media can be used as a tool of empowerment for marginalized groups to tell their stories without the gaze of otherness.
D. Star a Nigerian movie.

Monday morning, I stepped into my brown trousers, white shirt, facing fear (that I may become a 9-5 robot, though Barry who interviewed me looked real) facing the anxieties of a new job, and embracing my future. I walked into the office where fingers typed two million words per minute, eyes glued to their computer screens, and their unique distinct aura circled around their desk-- a white teeth with elastic cheeks turned their heads away from their Mac Books and embraced my “freshmen” smile.

I sat in front of my desk reading the OLP Wiki pages, consuming….

I ask a relentless amount of questions, Barry eagerly responded.

I consume…..

I am quickly gaining mental weight at this job, so many facts to eat, so many ideas to devour, so many terms to chew on, I am never satisfied.

It feels good being part of a vanguard project that is changing my perspectives on we engage in digital media.