Coupled with the lingering effects of racism/white supremacy introduced to us in countless ways during the Maafa, our people’s spirit, bodies, and culture were broken and/or destroyed as a means of forcing us to submit to the oppressive nature of the strange new land we now commonly know as the United States. Although our original African ancestors might have suffered all of these unfortunate acts of oppression, one class of individuals in Black Society seemed to shine brightly in the face of racism/white supremacy: the Black Intellectual.

From inspired poets such as Phyllis Wheatley in the 1700s, to Michael Eric Dyson in 2015 and the multitude of Black Thinkers who have made their mark in between the previously mentioned eras, it’s clear that our race creates bright men and women whose mind is just as sharp–and in numerous cases sharper–than their counterparts in the dominant society. However, like many other signs of progress made in the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s, Black Society’s path seemed to take a left turn. Over the past several decades, there was an underlying train of though among our people (particularly among our youth) that the aspiration to be intelligent was no longer “cool”, and that we would suffer ridicule from our fellow Melanoid Brothers and Sisters for letting our respective brilliant lights shine too brightly. In contrast to this way of thinking, there seems to be a celebration of the Black Intellectual that our people have not witnessed since perhaps the glorious days of the Harlem Renaissance. From Dr. Kaba Kamene, to Dr. Joy DeGruy, the contemporary Black Intellectual has seemingly elevated the awareness of Black Society single handedly by blessing us with a wealth of invaluable information which we are now responsible for implementing into our lives in order to improve our current standing as a race.

Many of us can vividly recall a time within the past 20 years alone when we saw our youth aspire to be athletes and entertainers in overwhelming numbers because they felt that doing so were the only ways to immediate success. In 2015, that particular playing field of our youths’ heroes is slowly but surely leveling in favor of the Black Intellectual. In many ways, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing has become the Queen Mother of current day Black Intellectuals. Dr. Umar Johnson consistently speaks to venues filled with large crowds of Black folks who often exceed capacity in cities all over the world. Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson is a living example of proving how being smart can be “cool” all by himself. To further state the validity of the Black Intellectual’s rise in the 21st century, a segment of Black Society has been formed in which the Brothers and Sisters refer to themselves as “Blerds“, or “Black nerds”.

When it comes to Black Society’s current resurgence, it is agreed that the builders will be the ones propel us into the future, but the thinkers in Black Society will be the ones who plant the seeds of ingenuity, inspiration, and empowerment into the minds of our builders. The days of celebrating ignorance and bufoonery are going the way of the dinosaur. Being smart is cool.

by B. Clark