The Geekset Podcast is a podcast that blends together Geek Culture and Hip-Hop Culture. Hosted by Bacardi, Deuces, Didge & Lib, these four Blerds recently set out to ask the Blerd Community three questions to celebrate Black History Month. Those questions were, “What does Black History Month mean to you,” “What makes you proud to be Black,” and “Black History Month + Blerd Culture: What’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
What I truly love about the effort the podcast made in their video series is the fact that it shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that Black nerds are out here. They’re taking part in the geek community, they’re cosplaying, they’re voice acting, they’re writing, they’re doing it all. There’s no excuse to pretend like this isn’t something we’re a part of, and it especially isn’t an excuse to stop seeing us come March 1st, 2022.
When writing about the video series, one of the things the team talked about was the fact that there’s an uptick in Black features this month, only for it to fizzle out when the month is over (unless if we’re trending for traumatic reasons, of course). Their solution? To feature Black creatives in their own way, and to do so throughout the rest of the year.
Every year during Black History Month, companies reach out to Black Creators for their content of the month and i’ma keep all the way a bean, we can tell that a lot of it is orchestrated by white folks, because the follow up and follow through isn’t consistent.
You see them for the month and then that company moves on to the next cultural topic. And it wasn’t until I interviewed Karama Horne aka TheBlerdGurl that I changed my perspective on how I speak with these companies moving forward.
Case in point, if you’re only going to highlight me during Black History Month, thanks but I’m a need more opportunities than just this.
So what’s the solution? Well for starters, we can take control of the narrative and the content ourselves first, and thats exactly what this project is. It is the start to a long list of content that will come from Geekset that has people of the culture being showcased on multiple occasions. We wanted to kick it off big and so we reached out to over 30 Blerds to participate and help us.
Each video is about half an hour-long and is a chance to hear a group of Black nerds celebrate Black culture and the fact that we too struggle to walk out of the bookstore without a stack of manga to read – even if we have manga at home that we haven’t started.
Don’t @ me.
The energy is phenomenal, along with the pride of being Black and loving yourself and this community that you’re a part of. It’s just such a nice showcase of Black geekery and a way to see that we’re all from different walks of life, but we all can (and do) come together to celebrate the beauty that is us.
There’s always this idea of what is and isn’t Black, that you have to act a certain way in order to be classified as Black to the point that if you step outside whatever arbitrary box that’s been created for you, people question your Blackness or are just SHOCKED that you’re into whatever they don’t associate as being part of the Black Community.
But we’re Black no matter what we do, and being a geek is definitely something that we do.
You can check out the video series below, which tells you who each person is that’s speaking and how to find them online.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
My own answer: it’s a chance to celebrate myself and my community, a chance to remember where I come from and the steps taken by those who came before me to get us to where we are today. It’s a reminder of the necessary conversations we’re still trying to have and a chance to see that I’m not alone in my feelings, that a movement is a constant effort at making things better for future generations of Black, queer, nerdy girls like me.
What makes you proud to be Black?
My own answer: we are truly a resilient people who know how to step back and celebrate who we are. Black folks really do be out here celebrating their wins AND the wins of others, and I’m lucky to be surrounded by people who support the idea of congratulating yourself for what you’ve done in your life. It’s real easy to be hard on yourself and feel like you’re not doing enough, but the Black people in my life are all about deep breaths and reminders of “you are enough.”
Black History Month + Blerd Culture: What’s the 1st thing that comes to mind?
My own answer: my mother, even if she swears up and down that she is NOT a nerd, but this is the woman who introduced me to Nintendo, Star Wars, who BRAGS if she sees a Marvel release before me, and who taught my teenage self to be proud for not going easy on the boy I had a crush on when we played Marvel vs Capcom 2 just so he would like me. “If he doesn’t like you after that then f*ck him,” she said.
Thanks, mom, for being my first real taste of Black geekery. Also thanks for being mad at me if I get movie screeners before you get to see the release.
(Image: The Geekset Podcast)
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