blerd

A nerd who is of African American decent. A BLack-nERD.

Turk: “My cousins a blerd” 
Carla: !?!?! 
Turk: A black nerd. 
-Scrubs

There’s never been a better time to be a Black Nerd (Blerd). Whether you’re defeating your arch nemesis with clever memes, participating in the #Blacklivesmatter movement, or effortlessly navigating the waters of America’s knowledge based economy, 2016 is looking to be a promising year for the bookish type.

Here’s why:

1. Meek Mill –he killed it for street dudes (dark skins took a major L as well). I couldn’t find a good picture of Meek, so here’s a picture of an L instead

2. 2015 was already the year of the light skins. Meek Mill’s loss to Drake was only the tip of the waffle-colored iceberg. Other notable light skin victories in 2015 include

• The Golden State Warriors (I know… Draymond Green, smh)
• Empire (Mr. green eyes himself, Terrence Howard)
• Jenna? (You know… dude from “Classic Man”)
• Zach Lavine (update: Dunk champion 2 years in a row!)
• Tre from Kick Genius (shout out to those guys)

3. Knowledge economy. The days of earning a decent living from a manufacturing job and a high school diploma, are long gone (Reagan).

See, the way the ‘conomy is set up right now, there’s literally never been a better time to be a Black nerd, because we don’t really have a choice anymore! Seriously, start brushing up on your anime right now my G!  If you can’t rap, you’re not nice at ball, and have an aversion towards nefarious activities, you need 21^st century skills in order to swim. These skills include:

• Critical and creative thinking
• Information, media, and technology literacy (all the literacies, y’all)
• Strong communication skills

Luckily, these are all things that blerds (nerds in general really) are very adept at.

TL;DR: 2016 is the year of the Black Nerd because they sent all the labor jobs to India.

4. Being a nerd no longer means being socially awkward. As great as these 90’s shows were, Family Matters, Smart Guy, and Saved by the Bell really set intellectuals back a couple decades. Jaleel White’s character especially, Steven Q. Urkel, was very smart but also very annoying, weak, insufficiently masculine, and socially awkward (specifically around the ladies… Although he did bag Myra… Still, awkward. Yuck). Anyway, men have a deep-seated distaste for looking weak in any way, shape, or form.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that little Black boys, growing up watching these shows, secretly swore to themselves that if being a nerd meant being like that, then it just wasn’t worth it. Nowadays tho, blerd no longer equals un-cool, or weak, or unattractive. Notable blerds are:

• Blerd Captain –President Obama
• Kendrick Lamar
• J. Cole
• Lupe Fiasco
• Myron Role
• Janelle Monae
• SZA
• Rhonda Rousey (she’s not black but she’s a HUGE anime fan and an MMA fighter!)
• Jordan Carlos
• The guys from Kick Genius 
• Huey from the Boondocks (I don’t care if he’s not a real person)

I know what you’re thinking: “But Auggie, most of the people on this list are rappers or athletes. Doesn’t that contradict your previous point?” No. No it doesn’t. These are just people you’ve heard of.

Anyway, the point is that you can be a nerd and still be cool… “At the same damn time!” See what I did there? Rap reference –that was cool, right?

5. Black America is WOKE! In my humble (African American Studies minor) opinion, the early 2000’s created a false sense of security –that racism was largely an issue of the past –that we were living in a post-racial society. Well, our collective sense of activism, protest, “you’re not gonna do this to us”, has sure been fired up again. 2016 is only 2 months old, but consider these examples of Black America being woke af rn:

• Beyonce said, “Negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils” during the HALF TIME SHOW at the freakin’ Super Bowl!
• Kendrick Lamar. Grammy’s. Wow.
• Call for Boycott of the Oscars

I know what you’re thinking: “But Auggie, just because entertainers are doing Black things all over TV, that doesn’t mean the majority of Black America is woke.” Please refer to my previous point. I’m naming people you’ve heard of. Stop coming for me yo…

6. You need Black intellectuals at a time like this. Building off of my previous point, that activism has been reawakened, I’d like to point out that there is no activism without intellectualism. Black intellectuals –reader, writers, thinkers, and creatives –are needed more than ever:

• Police are killing unarmed people in the streets with impunity
• There’s a growing chance that Donald Trump might actually win the Republican nomination
• The Civil Rights generation, those who came of age during the 60’s and have shouldered the brunt ever since, can’t carry us forever.

The last and most important reason why 2016 is the year of the Blerd –the year of black intellectuals and creatives –is because it has to be. It just has to be. It’s getting real out here.

Being a Blerd isn’t just about loving superhero movies, listening to “white people” music, maintaining an outrageous GPA, and attending Afro Punk.

Black nerds have a powerful legacy of creating lasting change, not just for Black people, but for humanity.

It’s no coincidence that the co-founder of the Black Panthers, Huey P. Newton, also had his PhD. It’s no coincidence that Martin Luther King Jr., also had his PhD. Am I saying that you have to have a degree in order to be a Blerd? No, because Malcolm X Shabazz didn’t graduate from high school.

If you consider yourself to be a blerd, don’t just keep it to yourself. Realize that your creative and intellectual gifts were meant to be shared with the world and to improve the world. Let your light shine, fam.

Shalom,

Auggie

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Educator. Blogger. Natural hair enthusiast. Auggie is an English teacher and works as an Uber driver on the weekends. He lives in North Jersey (home of the least approachable women in America). Follow him on Instagram at Auggie_89

 

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