Getting with the times: are we truly leaving a legacy?

BY CHRISTINA GWIRA

This is going to be a bitter article to swallow. You have been warned.

A major concern that I have had with the black community has been its lack of acceptance of technology. This has been the main reason why I took on this role as a tech contributor, but also as a reporter for the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper. I’ve been in the tech industry since I was 17 years old, and it’s not until recently that I’ve begun to see more brown faces within the space. I’m always so happy to see my fellow brothers, sisters and elders in the field; it brings a joy to my heart like no other. However, I have a bone to pick with some of the elders. You’re really not making an effort to get with the times, and it shows.

We are in a new age. We can take back what was lost and shape it into something new for us. It’s a beautiful and wonderful thing that my generation and the generation after us are being immersed into technology and all its nuances, but even then, not so much, and certainly not to the degree that other cultures are being exposed. Little black boys and girls are introduced to technology through the iPad and the iPhone, but how many of them are given the opportunity and put into positions to learn about the things that make these devices tick?

We are fearful to get onto Facebook, because we’re scared of “evil eye,” but it could be that that very same platform is what could help your new business gain new customers and clients. Help you pay off your mortgage. “No, I don’t need a website”, I’ve heard many an Aunty and Uncle tell me, but the lines of people who used to throng to your shop dwindle with each passing day. The landlord raises the rent each time your renewal is nigh.

Let them who have ears, hear.

There is a computer in the house, but you aren’t aware of how to turn it on; you have a powerful smartphone in your hand, but need to call junior to unlock it for you and get into your email.

Enough.

You have the power within you to plug into this new era. You have the ability to learn about these new things and apply them to your life. Make it better. Easier. You are not too old. You are not too young. You have the capabilities to make use of this great era that we are in! Oh! What our ancestors wouldn’t have given to live in the days that we live, to have what we have.

There are classes, most are free that can help you. A great place to start is at the local libraries and community centers. There are free classes that can show you everything: from how to turn on a computer, how to navigate the internet, to how to use word processing software like Word or Google Docs. If you want to expand a bit more on what you already know, there are free websites like www.freecodecamp.org that can show you, letter by letter, how to code in languages like HTML and CSS.

Places like UDemy, Teachable all have a variety of courses that one can take for us to empower ourselves. There are also community organizations that we can tap into, created by people like us and for us. I want to see ALL OF US, not just the young ones, plug into this digital age. You can do it. We can do it. Let us do it.

Let them who have ears, hear.