A little over two months ago I wrote my first line of code in html. Less than one month ago I took my first React class, using Java Script. I learned that programming languages are like any other language. They should be called programming languages, after all each one has its own set of symbols, grammatical structures, dialects, expressions, roots, verb tenses, derivations, states, conditionals. The choice of which language to use will depend on the messenger's ability to communicate, the receiver of the message to decipher what is being said, and the purpose of use. Think with me... what better language to speak about cafuné than Portuguese? What better language to speak about zugunruhe and the desire to migrate than German? Or about Iktsuarpok and the feeling of anticipation than Eskimo? Language is just a communication interface with a clear purpose: expression. And it was about expression and Reactive Programming that I spoke last Thursday, at Liferay, during the Recife Java Community (JUG) meetup.
No, it was not an invitation. The proposal to do a talk was launched in a Java Whatsup group, which I am part of. Any one of the 200 participants could have volunteered. "Why not me?", I thought. The meetup would certainly be full of experienced programmers and men. "Perfect!" Meetups are learning environments, of exchange, of people passionate (or curious) about a common theme. There is room for those who are learning something new. Aren't we all? Each and every skill is just a trained muscle, a matter of time and dedication. We (still) have this deified vision of people who get up on stages and speak with microphones in their hands as if they were somehow better, more important, possessing a knowledge unreachable by the mere mortals of the audience. We need to transform these archetypes, break these paradigms, revolutionize the world.
As soon as the talk was over, I felt extremely well received by the Java community. The majority were, in fact, male and experienced programmers, who respected the exchange space, who participated together with me during the talk and understood my presence on that stage. If I was there, any of them could be there. If I was there, any of them could be. There were also those who were just starting out and a few who haven't even started yet. I am happy for having shown the possibility of following any path regardless of age, gender identity, level of knowledge, and so many other labels that we (still) use to limit people. We need to open more spaces like this one, to include more and more and more people, and give continuity to the human experience in its most subtle character: the reinvention of subjects.
Thank you to each one of you who contributes to the organic formation and strengthening of human communities in the world. Thank you to each woman who believed that it is possible to revolutionize the spaces and opened the way for many others. Thank you to Liferay for the receptivity, to JUG for the opportunity, and to each one of the participants of this meetup for the listening, the exchange, and the openness in rethinking spaces.
For you, who have not (yet) gone on stage, who have not (yet) spoken with a microphone in your hand to an audience of people willing to listen to you: volunteer in some community, show what you are learning, share something you have done and are proud of, talk about your trajectory, your failures, your challenges. Believe me: it is not about authority, it is about vulnerability.