History Main / BlackAndNerdy

* ComicBook/{{Static}}. And for that matter, his inspiration, schoolteacher Jefferson Pierce a.k.a. ComicBook/BlackLightning.

* ''Series/{{Batwoman}}'': Luke Fox, son of Lucius Fox, is a tech whiz like his father but also socially awkward.

* Music/KanyeWest, Music/WillIAm, and a lot of the more "techno" rappers of the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]] to the mid-[[TheNewTens 2010s]] fit this trope. They strayed away from the more [[GangstaRap gangster lyrics]] of [[TheNineties the 90s]]. By the mid-late 2000s their music was the mainstream.

* The computer game adaptation of ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'' makes Ellen a computer scientist and engineer.

** Downplayed with Damien. He has a huge love for science and is one of the most intelligent contestants in the fourth generation, but he doesn't flaunt his knowledge on these topics all the time.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fandom, when it comes to humanized fan-art, Twilight Sparkle's color scheme (consisting of varying shades of purple) leads to her often being drawn as Black, or at least [[ButNotTooBlack noticeably tanner than the rest of the cast]]. She is of course a highly adorkable bookworm.

* TropeCodifier Steve Urkel in ''Series/FamilyMatters'' is an ExtravertedNerd who has a stereotypically nerdy aesthetic complete with NerdGlasses who obsesses over his grades and has built a robot, a jetpack, and a transformation chamber. Also his StalkerWithACrush Myra.

* Tucker from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is a technology enthusiast, and a [[ExtravertedNerd very outgoing one at that]].

--> "[[CatchPhrase Age of the geek, baby!]]"

* Luther Stickell (Creator/VingRhames) in the ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'' film series. Like other iffy examples of the trope, he's not really a nerd at all. In fact, he's arguably a ScaryBlackMan who happens to be a super-hacker as well. Most likely his race is a reference to Barney Collier (Creator/GregMorris) in the [[Series/MissionImpossible original TV show]], who really is a nerd.

* Only a year later, Barney Collier (played by Greg Morris) was the TokenBlack on the original ''Series/MissionImpossible'' team, hired specifically for his electrical/mechanical genius. In the 1980's revival series, we get Grant Collier (Barney's son, played by Greg Morris's real life son ''Creator/PhilMorris'').

* Ving Rhames in the ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movies. Like other iffy examples of the trope, he's not really a nerd at all. In fact, he's arguably a ScaryBlackMan who happens to be a super-hacker as well. Most likely his race is a reference to Barney Collier in the original TV show, who really is a nerd.

* Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitman in the 2007 ''Film/{{Transformers|2007}}'' movie, to the extent that when Epps compares claw slashes in a steel wall to [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], Glen jumps in and geeks out by insisting that it was ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, his reasoning being there were three claw marks (Wolverine has three claws on each hand) and Freddy Krueger has four claws. After a {{beat}}, [[BunnyEarsLawyer Simmons]] claims this outburst to be "very funny". Despite his nerdiness, the novelization has him end up with Maggie.

* Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitman in the 2007 ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' movie, to the extent that when Epps compares claw slashes in a steel wall to [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], Glen jumps in and geeks out by insisting that it was ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, his reasoning being there were three claw marks (Wolverine has three claws on each hand) and Freddy Krueger has four claws. After a {{beat}}, [[BunnyEarsLawyer Simmons]] claims this outburst to be "very funny". Despite his nerdiness, the novelization has him end up with Maggie.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Nicely summed up by [[Music/ChildishGambino Donald Glover]] (famous for being a Black nerd on ''Series/{{Community}}'')
-->"...I'm a Black nerd and that shit was illegal 'till like, 2003."
** Further expanded upon it by stating that nerds are people who like "strange, specific things" and that Urkel doesn't qualify due to being "retarded."
* R. Talsorian founder Mike Pondsmith started his pen-and-paper roleplaying company in 1982, and is responsible for ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'', ''TabletopGame/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'', ''TabletopGame/CastleFalkenstein'', and ''TabletopGame/{{Mekton}}'' (which was inspired by ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''.) He also has a B.A. in graphic design and B.S. in psychology, and was roped into roleplaying in 1977 when he was introduced to ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}''. He also owns a deep voice, and more than a few fans wanted him to voice a character in ''Videogame/Cyberpunk2077'' (which became a reality when the game was released).
* UsefulNotes/BarackObama, 44th president of the United States, is an avowed fan of ''Franchise/StarTrek,'' collected ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comic books, is hopelessly addicted to his Blackberry, follows [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Aperture Science]] on Website/{{Twitter}}, and made Internet culture and technology concerns a cornerstone of his campaign. Of course, ''Website/TheOnion'' [[http://www.theonion.com/content/news/obama_disappointed_cabinet_failed took a shot at this.]]
* Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, JCS Chairman, and ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan.
* [[Music/BlackEyedPeas will.i.am]] has included more than a few cyberpunk references in his music.
* UsefulNotes/NeilDeGrasseTyson: astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and host of NOVA [=ScienceNow=] on Creator/{{PBS}}.
* Pierre Bernard, Conan O'Brien's graphic designer, as well as a comic who draws heavily from comics and sci-fi for his material.
* Creator/RosarioDawson, a Black-Puerto Rican actress, producer, and Trekkie capable of speaking Klingon.
* Music/LupeFiasco. Loves Anime, manga, videogames, skateboarding, martial arts, and coincidentally is one of the most creative and talented rappers in the business.
* Music/PharrellWilliams played in a marching band in high school, enjoys ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and the words of Carl Sagan, and one of his bands is named N.E.R.D.
* Mendel Bij de Leij of Music/{{Aborted}} fame is well-known for his love of video games and anime.
* Adam Warren of Oceano is known for his love of video games, particularly Nintendo titles, and has a [[http://www.twitch.tv/BlaqMario Twitch channel]] devoted to them.
* US immigration policy gives strong preference to people with skills and education, which means that this trope is often TruthInTelevision when it comes to African immigrants and their children. (This policy is also one of the main causes of AsianAndNerdy.) Statistically, sub-Saharan African immigrants have higher levels of educational attainment than all other American ethnic/immigrant groups, including whites and Asians. Nigerian Americans, as a migrant group, are [[http://www.chron.com/news/article/Data-show-Nigerians-the-most-educated-in-the-U-S-1600808.php the most educated in the U.S.]]
* ''The Atlantic'''s [[http://www.theatlantic.com/ta-nehisi-coates senior editor and blogger]] Creator/TaNehisiCoates. Aside from his more obvious American history and music nerdom, he's a huge fan of comic books and plays ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. According to his memoir ''The Beautiful Struggle'', he was also a bit of a CloudCuckoolander as a kid. As a result, he was hired by Marvel to write for the comic ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' and also worked on the movie version.
* ''Series/SportsCenter'' anchor Stuart Scott. He was a popular choice for commentary ''because'' he was so pop culture savvy.
* [[http://kotaku.com/5163638/ngai-croal-leaves-newsweek-and-game-journalism "Popular gaming pundit"]] N'Gai Croal, of Magazine/{{Edge}} and (formerly) Newsweek, among others.
* Creator/AishaTyler has a "I Can Kick Your Ass At Halo" shirt, and in one stand-up routine claimed that she would never have kids because that would eat into her Halo time.
* Players of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG who play in California will attest that there are a lot of Black players. This wouldn't be noticeable aside from that Black players from California tend to act in a manner that wouldn't clue you in that they were nerdy in the slightest, acting as street tough, like the people who you would expect to make fun of you in school for playing the game.
* Alfonzo Rachel of the Macho Sauce Productions fame is a huge ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' fan and, in his own words, a sci-fi dork. Of course, he himself [[MoreThanMeetsTheEye doesn't look all that nerdy]].
* Rapper Music/{{MFDOOM}}, full-stop. His stage persona is, quite literally, Doctor Doom as a rapper, and in almost any given song, he makes it very clear that he is JustForFun/OneOfUs, frequently including [[ShoutOut shout outs]] to ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'', ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'', and more.
* Music/JayZ isn't really this, but his engineer Young Guru is, and when he was working with Jigga on his then-new album back in 2005, Guru was reading a comic called ComicBook/KingdomCome. He saw the parallels between Superman's place in the comic, and Jay-Z's place in hip-hop. As a result, in 2006, Jay-Z released his comeback album -- entitled ''Kingdom Come''.
* Creator/LeVarBurton plays these sorts of characters a little too well to be entirely acting, as evidenced by his work as [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Geordi LaForge]] and his work on ''Series/ReadingRainbow''. His daughter Mica Burton is a cosplayer, actress, {{YouTuber|s}}, streamer, and tabletop gamer as well.
* Many of the top fighters within FightingGame tournaments are Black. The 2011 and 2012 EVO champion of Mortal Kombat 9, is a Black guy named [[https://twitter.com/PerfectLegend PerfectLegend.]] In 2013, Perfect Legend's was dethroned as the Mortal Kombat 9 EVO champion, only for another Black and nerdy guy named C88 DJT to take the title.
%%* Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs basketball team.
* [[http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/04/florida_teen_girl_charged_with.php Kiera Wilmot,]] a Black teenager who got expelled from school for a science experiment gone wrong. To elaborate, the girl was an ace student and had no previous record of doing anything wrong, but was expelled and charged under Zero Tolerance policies. But fellow nerd Homer Hickam, a retired lead astronaut trainer for Spacelab and the ISS, learned of her story and got scholarships for both her and similarly academically accomplished sister to attend Space Camp.
* Twin valedictorians [[http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2013/07/Black-excellence-twin-valedictorians-headed-to-stanford-university/ Marcos and Malcolm Allen]] who are graduating high school with 4.8 [=GPAs=].
* The runner of [[https://www.youtube.com/user/YourYUGIOHChannel Your Yu-Gi-Oh Channel.]]
* Cory Booker -- former Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, currently Senator from New Jersey. Not only did he graduated from both Yale and Stanford, he was also a Rhodes Scholar.
* [[Music/AnimalsAsLeaders Tosin Abasi]] has a huge understanding of musical theory and puts all his knowledge into his music, making him more of a {{Geek}} than a nerd.
* Berhan Ahmed, receiver of the Australian of the Year award, is an Eritrean-Australian social activist and science nerd with a [=PhD=] in forest science. He has changed from his enviable role as [[BoringButPractical an expert in termite taxonomy and its effects on crops, trees, and buildings]], to become the chairman of the [[UsefulNotes/AustralianStatesAndTerritories Victoria]]-based Africa Think Tank.
* Charles Frank Bolden, Jr, the current Administrator of NASA. As well as having a science degree, he is a retired United States Marine Corps Major General and a former astronaut.
* Lonnie G. Johnson, the inventor of the [[WaterGunsAndBalloons Super Soaker]], is an engineer who owns a technology development company with over 80 patents.
* Furbearingbrick, a personality in the CreepyPasta community best known for the "Worm Jeff" saga, is an African-American woman with a fondness for obscure Japanese video games and video game trivia.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' pro player and commentator Cedric Phillips.
* Percy Julian, who developed an interest in plants as a child, and would grow up to receive more than ''130 patents'' for his work synthesizing medicines from them. He pioneered the development of cortisol, steroids and the birth control pill. His wife, Anna Johnson Julian, may also count as a female example of this trope as she was the first Black woman to earn a [=PhD=] in her field (sociology) at the University of Pennsylvania.
* Creator/LarryWilmore is a self-proclaimed "blerd" (Black nerd); on one episode of ''Series/TheNightlyShow'' he mentioned [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 President Roslin]] in a discussion on women in politics.
* Similar to Wilmore, Stephen Robinson is one of the more professional writers on the (left-leaning) news/satire site ''Wonkette''... but he's also the one most likely to drop ''Series/DoctorWho'' or musical-theater references in the middle of an unrelated article. There's also this quip:
-->''I am concerned that willfully ignoring [waning but still-controversial issue] makes me like the leads in a horror film who stop considering the slasher killer an active threat just ten minutes before the credits: "No, we're quite sure it's fine now. Let's all relax."''
* [[Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway Wayne Brady]] has stated that in order to be a good improv actor, you ''need'' to be a nerd. He's dropped many an obscure reference to prove his point.
* Creator/PhilMorris was already familiar with the origin of ComicBook/VandalSavage before voicing the character on ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. Creator/BruceTimm also related a tale on one of the ''[[ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier Justice League: The New Frontier]]'' commentaries[[note]]Morris voiced King Faraday in the movie and the book's creator, Darwyn Cooke, did a second commentary[[/note]] of running into Morris at the San Diego Comic Con -- Morris was there, not to promote any projects he was working on, but purely as a fan to buy comics and other stuff.
* Many [=YouTubers=] have literally made successful careers being Black and Nerdy. Examples include: [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ Marques Brownlee]], [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgCvJ3_QahXgvwj6LjOd-w Soldier Knows Best]], [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnsNpWwCKSrTXOu-9wfVrpw Pelvic Gaming]] and many others. If that wasn't enough, there's also the [=YouTuber=] [[https://www.youtube.com/user/BlackNerdComedy Black Nerd Comedy,]] who's LITERALLY named Black Nerd on [=YouTube=]. Basically, he's the literal embodiment of this trope.
* Creator/SamuelLJackson has been stated to be a big fan of anime and ''Star Wars''. So much so, that he's had the opportunity [[PromotedFanboy to star in three Star Wars films AND be the voice behind the main characters]] of an [[Anime/AfroSamurai anime]].
* Music/FrankOcean is a massive [[Main/TheMovieBuff film buff]] whose list of his 100 favorite movies includes the works of Creator/AkiraKurosawa, Creator/IngmarBergman, and Creator/StanleyKubrick.
[[/folder]]

* Jose Rodriguez, Ken Murata's doctor in ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'' is an AmbiguouslyBrown (Afro-Latino judging from his name) American with [[DreadlockRasta dreadlocks]] and glasses who is [[OccidentalOtaku obsessed with Japanese culture]] and runs off to Akihabara whenever he goes to Japan.

* While having a [=NerveGear=] and a day one copy of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' is probably enough to qualify Andrew Gilbert Mills by itself; it was Agil who was able to analyze and start distribution of [[spoiler:The Seed, the game design framework that revitalized the VR industry.]]

[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin A nerd who is Black.]]

* Ray Arnold, played by Creator/SamuelLJackson, in ''Film/JurassicPark'' is the park's chief engineer, a nerdy field, though he displays no nerdy characteristics. Contrasting him is Wayne Knight's character Dennis [[strike:Nerdy]] Nedry, who is a standard, fat, white computer nerd.

The Black Nerd is a countertrope to [[WhiteDudeBlackDude common racial stereotypes]]. Most nerds are portrayed by races who already have the stereotype of being weak or bookish, such as whites, [[AsianAndNerdy Asians]], and Jews. Black people, on the other hand, are often portrayed as [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]] {{Soul Brotha}}s, {{Gangbangers}}, or {{Scary Black M|an}}en. The Black Nerd upsets these trends by being, well, a [[ShapedLikeItself Black Nerd]]. This is especially common in comedies, where writers are often reluctant to feed into racial stereotypes, but need flaws to make their characters funny. Giving a Black character personality flaws or traits which run counter to common stereotypes is a convenient way to add diversity, while trying to avoid accusations of discrimination.

* ''Film/CreedIII'': Adonis Creed is shown to have had a bedroom full of anime and manga merch in a {{flashback}} to his childhood in 2002 ([[ActorInspiredElement a nod]] to actor Creator/MichaelBJordan's own interests). This includes a ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' poster, which makes Donnie a full-on OccidentalOtaku since this was before either the manga or anime were legally available in English (it was a launch title for the English version of ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' in January 2003).

* Cameron from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''. He's spent most of his life reading due to growing up in a bubble (literally), knows a good deal about psychology, and tends to trip up in conversation due to his [[NoSocialSkills lack of social skills]].

* R. Talsorian founder Mike Pondsmith started his pen-and-paper roleplaying company in 1982, and is responsible for ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'', ''TabletopGame/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'', ''TabletopGame/CastleFalkenstein'', and ''TabletopGame/{{Mekton}}'' (which was inspired by ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''.) He also has a B.A. in graphic design and B.S. in psychology, and was roped into roleplaying in 1977 when he was introduced to ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}''. He also owns a BadassBaritone voice, and more than a few fans wanted him to voice a character in ''Videogame/Cyberpunk2077'' (which became a reality when the game was released).

Compare TheWhitestBlackGuy, [[note]]however, ValuesDissonance now tends to look unfavorably on those who equate higher education/intelligence with Whiteness, especially in an era of prominent figures such as Barack Obama[[/note]] which often overlaps. Contrast PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy.