You’re probably one if you’re reading this, and you didn’t even know it.
You’re a blerd.
“I’m a what?” you say, and I repeat: You’re a blerd.
What’s a blerd?
A blerd is a black nerd (which I suppose is better than being a “black geek*), and we all know what a nerd is:
…a person typically described as being overly intellectual…. They may spend inordinate amounts of time on… non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy.... "Nerd" is a derogatory, stereotypical term, but as with other pejoratives** it has been reclaimed and redefined by some as a term of pride and group identity.
So, as a term of pride and group identity… We are Blerd!
I first encountered the term in a series of articles by Tracy Clayton in The Root, where she traces blerds through history http://www.theroot.com/views/birth-blerd. Benjamin Banneker was one, for sure, and Garrett Morgan. But we should also include Madame C.J. Walker, Louis Lattimer, George Washington Carver, Mae Jemison, Jesse Russell, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Shirley Ann Jackson, Bessie Coleman ,Ronald McNair (look up the ones you don’t know), all would comfortably be categorized as blerds. Yet just about every article on blerds never fails to mention that the only “blerd” we had for a long time was Steve Urkel: a much-better candidate was Barney Collier (Greg Morris), the electronics whiz that was a part of the original IMF Team (Personally, I never thought of Urkel as nerd; I just thought he was annoying.)
So, there have always been blerds, but…
Are blerds necessary?
If you are a person who indulges in “nerdy” activities, isn’t being a “nerd” sufficient? Why does it (or should it) matter that you’re both black and into cosplay and comics, if you know the difference between a hobbit and a muggle, if when you talk about C you’re not referring to your grades… What else is necessary? Are we declaring ourselves or ghettoizing ourselves?
Either way, Ben Carson has lost his blerd credentials.
*’Cause then it would have been bleek.
**We’ll save the other N-word for another discussion…
For more about blerds:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/31/showbiz/rise-of-black-nerds/index.html
http://www.npr.org/2012/11/20/165539918/move-over-urkel-there-are-new-blerds-around
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