Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Black woman,
That’s me, too.
Black excellence,
That’s me, and you.
It’s the final week of the first Black History Month of the new decade. I’m in my bedroom.
Thinking.
Usually, I am tapped-out around this time of the month from the endless discussions about the lack of black C-Suite executives, or the trite Black History Month panels featuring What it Means to be Black in Corporate America.
Instead, I smile.
I smile as I reflect on my most-recent trip to Nigeria (December 2019). In a way, that trip was my small part to Black History.
For context, I am a first-generation Nigerian-American with strong ties to The Motherland. In an effort to address some of the challenges faced by women like me in Africa during their formative and adolescent years, I started a charity, Let Girls Read, Run, Grow (LGRRG) in 2017. As part of the charity work, I spent the first half of my holiday vacation in Lagos, Nigeria co-hosting a 2-day SPORT x STEM Camp. We hosted over 50 children for Basketball and Track training, drone building, and drone racing.
In the recap video, I call it part of my Legacy Project: a project I am still attempting to qualify, but know I never will. Going through the footage in my room, I shed a tear of joy not only because of the impact the camp had on the children, but more importantly, I know what the camp means to me.
In the eyes of the young boys and girls that attended the camp, I saw myself. For example, the will of the two 15-year old girls to show up three hours early, after a two-hour commute, was reminiscent of my motivation to board a 5:00AM Saturday morning subway train in Brooklyn to compete at an indoor track meet at the 168th Street Armory in New York City at 8:30AM. I knew their struggle, but more importantly, I understood their dedication. I was honored that they gave a day of their holiday vacations to attend our camp.
As many of the children arrived, however, it became clear why a camp like ours was necessary. Many of the girls were exceedingly shy: carrying their heads down, showing no interest for eye contact, responding with “yes ma” when spoken to, and when nudged, exhibiting nervous smiles that showed no teeth. Yet they came to learn, engage, and gain inspiration. They had arrived, but they seemed lost. Their confidence of youth though fed with a steady diet of hope, seemed to be starved of supplies, role models, institutions, and future economic prospects.
I was initially overwhelmed with anxiety from their timidity and my fear that “something” would go wrong. As the camp progressed though, I calmed down. Many of the girls started approaching me, with beaming smiles full of teeth, to inquire about my life. They were curious to know how and when I started sports and how it shaped my experience. Those that started the camp defeated, perhaps because their basketball skills were relatively sub-par, befriended their higher skilled mates. From their initial state of unease, shyness, and fear, they formed beneficial friendships, built confidence, explored intellectual curiosity, and cultivated inspiration. To them I had become their big sister. Someone who, at their age, also had dreams: to play well, travel far, and represent her country with pride.
The drone building session served a multiplier effect. Like all but two of the campers, I actually never previously flew a drone. Children whose homes lacked a reliable source of power, quickly learned the basics of battery powered motion and started soldering wires to enable their drones to take flight.
Once the soldiering, gluing, and flight plans were set, it was time for the drone racing to begin. As we raced the drones, I saw all of the dormant competitive juices come alive! While each raced individually, there was no shortage of side-line coaches and encouragement as the competition drew nearer to the championship ‘run’.
“Pitch… Pitch… PIIITTTCCHH!” they yelled.
Pitch is what you call the movement of the left-side controller to direct a drone to move forward or backward.
After many runs, we named a winner. This winner, who was the envy of his/her peers, took home a medium sized drone. But the drone workshop was far from complete.
We tasked the campers with developing a mini business plan around drones and drone technology which they presented to the camp cohort. Remember those girls that started the day so shy that they were effectively on mute?
They were now presenting their drone-enabled pharmaceutical solution: to use quad drones to deliver drug prescriptions to remote unmotorable communities (e.g. the village).
Our parting gifts to the campers were athletic bags, shirts, shorts, and t-shirts generously gifted by members of our extensive network, to whom we are forever grateful. As the campers eagerly waited in line to select their items, I became emotional wondering who in this cohort would continue to study a STEM subject because of their experience at our camp? Who in this cohort might go on to represent Nigeria on the international athletic stage? Though I still wonder, I know it can be done, because I am the blueprint.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Black woman,
That’s me, too.
Black excellence,
That’s me, and you.
