Greetings Good People!! Allow me to introduce myself my name is Grace Gipson aka GBreezy!! I have newly joined 'Black Girl Nerds' and looking forward to sharing with you all!! This first post is just a little bit about who I am...Check it out!
In all my 31 years as a Black woman in today’s society I have been called many names, everything from cute, shy, sista girl, Black queen, smart, superwoman, just to name a few. But, there are two names though that I have heard more frequent than the others, a Black feminist and a Black nerd. From my senior year in college to now, I have been labeled as a Black feminist, however nerd or a Black nerd I have heard since childhood to the present day. Both terms I have learned to embrace and take much pride in. However, if you asked me five years ago how I felt about these terms, I probably would have been on the major defense. Recently the negative connotations of being a called a feminist (even more so a Black feminist) have lessened, in some cases it has become a respectable, cool and even trendy (ex. The Feminist Wire , Feministing.com , Crunk Feminist Collective , among many others). Nothing stood out more than being called a nerd, especially when you have folks like Charles Barkley making such jokingly statements as “there’s nothing sadder than a black nerd”; but I beg to differ there’s nothing cooler!! Now being considered a Black Feminist Nerd, is becoming a phrase that I along with many other women can identify with and not feel any shame associated with the term.
Being a Black Feminist and a Nerd, I think has been embedded in me from the moment I could talk. Growing up I always questioned everything especially as it related to women and girls being treated fairly…my motto was if a guy can do it why can’t a girl do it too. I can fondly remember growing up and hearing the term feminist or “the F word” for the first time, such terms and phrases that were associated with it that come to mind include “bra burner”, man hater, lesbian, bitch, sassy, too independent, etc. So as one can imagine, I initially had this huge resistance to being considered a feminist, let alone a black feminist. I wanted people to know that I was smart, girly, but not a push over. So there were always these competing thoughts that to be smart, strong, and feminine could not work together, and that they each looked a certain way. Hmmm well let me tell you, I would definitely have a huge awakening, surprisingly a good one though. As I got older, read more, and researched more I would realize that I needed to add more flavor to who I was a black woman. Following in the footsteps of such legendary Black feminist and intellectuals as Ella Baker, Barbara Smith, Angela Davis, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Patricia Hill Collins, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Imani Perry, and others, my path looks mighty bright and promising. These above mentioned black women painted a beautiful picture of black feminism and intellectual nerdiness. Soon I would embrace being more than just a feminist, but a Black feminist.
Being a Black female nerd…let me first say this to be a nerd is multi-faceted. Just because you wear a pocket-protector in your shirt pocket sleeve, or because you wear black frame glasses does not make you a nerd. It is not just about how you look and dress, its so much more than that. For me to be a nerd was a combination of how you looked (this is relative) and someone who has a love for such hobbies as science/technology, comic books, video games, chess, and of course having academic intelligence. For black women, to be intelligent is somewhat expected; however it is still not seen as mainstream. Growing up when I would see a female nerd on television she was always teased, and a loner. And although male nerds were treated the same way, intelligent men have become more acceptable in mainstream. As of lately Black women have been making the image of being a Black (female) nerd quite appealing with such Black women as Melissa Harris-Perry who have coined the term #nerdland, Elle Varner’s recent cover on Vibe Vixen, eclectic and eccentric musical artist Janelle Monae, British starlet Freema Agyeman (Law & Order UK, Doctor Who), and youtube sensation and The Misadventures of the Awkward Black Girl star Issa Rae. Put it like this there is no traditional look for the black female nerd, we come in all shades, shapes, and sizes and we have a variety of attitudes and personalities.
As of recently my love for comic books led me to write an essay on a Black female comic book heroine (yes they do exist, quite a few too J) who I would consider to be a Black feminist nerd, named Martha Washington. This Dark Horse (DC subsidiary) comic presents a way to strategically meld her feminism with traditionally masculine performances, thus redefining heroism as sheroism.Martha Washington is a comic book character that invites a discourse regarding issues of female empowerment, race and gender. Martha Washington starts out as an ordinary African American girl who has the book smarts and then fantastically becomes a resilient leader in her own community and ultimately the universe. I admired and identified with Martha Washington because she was able to be vocal about her thoughts and feelings, a good student in school, and become a leader of an all-white military task force. Writing and learning about this character allowed me to step outside of my reality and be confident with who I am as a black woman. Her story gave me the confidence to want to welcome being a black feminist and a nerd simultaneously.
Not only are women becoming household names in academia, but also in other areas that are typically dominated by men such as video game consumers, comic book and graphic novel experts, sci-fi writers, characters, and authority figures. When it is all said and done there are many Black women who are doctors, professors, scientists, engineers, writers of comics and science-fiction who are making a difference because they love it. And some of these women may feel that they do not need the mainstream recognition, however there are a lot of young nerdy, geeky, little black girls that do need to see them. So when they become adult black women they can continue that role and not have to worry about success and feeling reluctant that they are a ‘Black female nerd’.
Even in 2013, I love the fact that I can be considered a Black Feminist Nerd and embrace the title gladly. So often black women have been one-dimensionally labeled in ways that are not necessarily all that enticing. It is more than just a means to survive, it’s a lifestyle. Now black women like myself can be seen in another positive light, and can pass down that energy to the next little black nerdy, feminist girls of the future. There was a time when to be called a nerd and/or a feminist was an insult, now the tables are turning in the other direction. Being both a feminist and a nerd has become mighty attractive these days, just ask Issa Rae!! I love the fact that I’m intelligent and quirky! It is so much more fun when you can stand and be proud of that rather than placing yourself in isolation or worse in someone else’s box/vision. And now that it is out in the open I can say that “I am unapologetically, unabashedly proud to call myself a Black Feminist Nerd”!!
Feel free to also check me out on my film blog Black Savant Cinema !!
