Yes it’s the rise of the “Black Nerd”aka “Blerd”…and President Obama and Kanye West are at the helm, according to CNN analysts. The nerd culture has hit a high point and more than ever people are going out of their way to self-identify as ‘nerdy’ making it known they are proud of their personalities in a world whereas they may have otherwise been ashamed of.
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Comedians Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele, the brains behind the hit Comedy Central sketch show “Key & Peele,” joked that President Barack Obama is the idol black nerds have longed for and needed.
According to the two, blerds is a way to describe African-American intellectuals in a time when it’s finally cool to be something other than an athlete or rapper.
“Obama was the best thing for black nerds everywhere. Finally we had a role model,” Peele told reporters recently. “Before Obama, we basically had Urkel.”
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., recently spoke out on the new trend saying,”there have long been African-American intellectuals. The difference with my generation and those after is that there are more of us in the spotlight. It’s good to see black intellectuals do well,” he said. “We as a people are a whole range of things, and we’re finally starting to see that reflected in the media.”
Gates just recently debuted his new genealogical show on PBS, “Finding Your Roots”.
What are your thoughts? Leave in comments below.
Stop using images of Kanye West as the “de facto” Blerd for all Black Nerds. Can we conjure up images of other Black Nerds like Henry Louis Gates? Or Condelezza Rice? Just kinda irks me that Kanye West somehow represents the Black Nerd movement. Next article about this, let’s switch it up and use another prolific Black celebrity instead of a hip hop star.
We mentioned our President Barack Obama as well. But most def..next one. You got it