Portrait of an American Woman - Lile

Portrait of an American Woman

Meet Lile, a 19 year old woman from Oakland, California. Lile has worked many different jobs in her life. Her favorite job was working as a sign waver for Mancini Sleepworld. She talks about how sometimes people would wave or give her bottles of water. Sometimes people would even give her money. Not all the people were so nice though; some people would flip her off as she waved the sign. The worst job that she had was working with her grandmother cleaning because she felt like she had to do all the hard work and didn't get paid what she deserved. Lile talks about how she and her sister were expelled from Castlemont High School over a fight with cheerleaders. She talks extensively about her experiences at the school and how there were fights on a daily basis. She said that because there are so many students, there's constant conflict and not enough staff to keep order. She said there were little repercussions to the fights she witnessed, but that she was expelled nonetheless. She now attends a day school where she is learning how to code and program computers. She is finishing up school and set to graduate soon. Lile says her favorite part of history is the Salem Witch Trials and her favorite book is Zora Neale Hurston's There Eyes were Watching God. Lile would like to go to college and study nursing. She is currently looking for a job. Every week, Nathaniel Garcia interviews and paints a portrait of an American woman. See the entire series at www.nathanielgarcia.com/portraits