Farther Together

So this project formerly known as RedadasDeObama seems to be taking off. What started out as just an idea is finally getting some attention.

It was definitely unexpected. It caught me off guard.

It couldn’t have come at a more interesting time, either. Just as I was getting used to my first job as a Software Developer (That will be another blog post), all the sudden I find myself answering calls from media outlets across the country, and across the world. There is an incessant feed of emails, tweets, message requests from journalists trying to get a story, and people interested in helping out.

What a double edged sword.

It was overwhelming, and for a couple of weeks I was at coffee shops well into 11pm. I don’t consider myself a good public speaker, even though I have had some practice at talking to the media, but I always feel I fall short. Everything can be better said in retrospect.

On the other hand, all the media attention has put the idea in front of other great people willing and able to help.

I’m happy to say that this is no longer my project. But a project with a core group.

So now I find myself tasked to perform a very different role I had not considered: a project maintainer. A manager of sorts. Can it be that I might actually put some of my college subject matter to use?

We’ll see. I’ve been reading up on how to maintain open source projects. The biggest thing I need to learn is to be ok with the slower pace that comes when collaboration is valued. Making decisions as a group takes time. And that’s good; I’m definitely not qualified to make all the decisions.

I think this is an opportunity to see how the open-source model can be applied to social justice projects.

May we be able to go farther together, even when my impatience wishes I could push something out faster alone.