I recently found out about Black Girl Nerds through iTunes. I decided to download a few podcasts to see what it was about and I am hooked.
Interracial Dating
The first podcast I downloaded was the episode about interracial dating. I have never been in an interracial relationship but had crushes on white men and never understood why. I am open to dating outside of my race. I have a friend who has been happily married to a white man for over six years, and I fully support her. It bothers me to hear people say, "She thinks she's white..." I live in South Carolina and even though I do see many interracial couples in my area (I know some personally), they are often ostracized for it. I have learned through watching my friend and her husband is that if you don't love each other, it just won't work. Over the years, I had a hard time understanding why older generations disagreed with dating someone outside of their race. Recently, I came up with this conclusion. Because of the outright hatred experienced by our grandparents and in some cases, even our parents, they can't imagine themselves falling in love with a white person. Case and point, I was reading Fire From the Rock by Sharon M. Draper which is a historical fiction novel based on the Arkansas Eight. The main character Sylvia was interviewed to attend Central High. One of the ladies asked about dating and what if she met a white boy she liked. Sylvia said to herself that "she couldn't imagine it." As I look back on watching Roots, reading history books, hearing stories, and seeing the hatred that was experienced, I arrived at this conclusion.
Blerd
I have never really considered myself a nerd, but one of my friends considers me a semi nerd. Although I have been on the honor roll a few times and won my share of awards throughout school, I was never a part of the National Honors Society. I wear glasses because I am visually impaired. By listening to the podcasts, I have learned that being a nerd is far more than just academics. I am not into anime or comic books, but I am an avid reader. In school, the librarians knew me by name. I check out books from my local public library from time to time. I have library cards for three different counties. In addition to books, I like to listen to different types of music. I recently started listening to KPOP. I also like old school music including stuff from the 80's. Right now, I am into British band Spandau Ballet, who had the song "True." They are considered a one hit wonder here the U.S. but they appeared to be more popular in the U.K. I am also interested in travel and enjoy learning about different cultures. I use to read books about different countries and I took three geography classes in college. Someone would ask me, "Why are you reading that?" I would say, "Because I want to."
Cosplayer
I found the Cosplayer episode to be interesting. I have very limited knowledge of cosplaying, anime, and comics. I watched Sailor Moon when I was 15. So I remember the Sailor Scouts and a few other characters but that's it. The friend I mentioned in an earlier paragraph is into KPOP and anime in addition to being in an interracial relationship, so I am sure that she gets a lot of flack for it. They attend anime conventions and dress up as their favorite characters. Sometimes, they have anime theme parites and have discussions about their favorite shows with their friends. I never been, but it would be interesting to see. She says that she has always been a nerd and proud of it even before it became popular.
I know that this was a bit long, but I just wanted to give some feedback. Keep up the good work.
