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“Being black isn’t what I’m trying to be, it’s what what I am.” - Carlton Banks

As a nerdy black woman (and retired emo) who’s been called an “Oreo” all her life, the rise of the quirky black girl makes me feel seen. Wish there’d been more of it when I was younger but I’m glad it’s here now

Yes! Sometimes black people just want a show/film about...nothing. Not everything and every black person wants the struggle story. We are not a monolith. Proud awkward black girl here!

It's refreshing to see black characters exist without being a political statement. That's why shows like insecure and Atlanta stand out. We need more shows about Regular black people

Biggest stereotypes being that people of colour cannot be alternative/goth/emo/metal head people, when a literal black woman Rosetta Tharpe invented rock music (before Elvis) !

Been waiting for a video like this. Black people don't want a reminder of the struggles of being black in TV shows or movies. We want escapism where we can see ourselves be the hero, villian, or whatever we want in different genres. Hopefully we'll get more black fantasy and sci-fi shows or movies.

This is long overdue. I'm glad more screenwriters are people of color, now. The existence of black characters should be significantly more than just "the thug," "the step & fetch it comic relief," "sassy black friend" or "magical negro," giving advice to the white protagonist. The African-American experience should be a spectrum, not two or three options.

Also, as far as the "black enough" question, those kinds of questions kill creativity. Because one is never allowed to be more than just a short list of options.

Raven Baxter from That’s So Raven was a cool quirky Black girl with powers. Goo from Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends was the first ANIMATED quirky Black girl I ever saw in media, and I loved her despite how annoying she could be at times. I also will forever love Issa Rae and Michaela Coel for bringing Black girls into the forefront as fun and unique characters. I would also love a take on the “bougie Black girl” that’s spoiled, upper class and living in luxury like Dionne from Clueless and Toni from Girlfriends, 90% of the characters Gabrielle Union plays, Miranda from as told by Ginger, Sherry from You and etc.

“Real black experience” not all black people have the same experiences. Can’t stand that people try to fit all black people into a box.

This character is almost always the best but they keep being cast as the sidekick. That’s why I love Insecure. She’s the focus

I've always felt like I'm forcing myself to be more black (just to make my toxic father happy), but watching this video made me realize that I'm also a quirky black woman. From doing art, playing video games, and even exploring my true sexuality. I'm gonna keep exploring myself, and I'm not going to let anyone tell me that I'm "not" black enough!👑🧚🏿‍♀️

Taking the work of a white supremacist and making a story against white supremacy is badassery on a whole new level

Why do black characters only seem to exist to be the best friend of the white protagonist, and we rarely get an insight into their hopes and dreams? In "Sierra Burgess" and Tall Girl", the best friends were far more interesting than the respective main leads!

People also tend to forget that the black experience is not confined to the African American situation. For black people like me who are from Africa, we navigate the world differently. The "nerd" is glorified because that means you are smart and will do well in school, and possibly in life.

I hated hearing that I talk like a white girl growing up so toxic

Being black is whatever I want it to be. Enough said.

As a person of colour - I love the quirky black character. It is a trope I most identify with -and yes, I have been accused by my own family members of trying ‘ to be white’. It is so exhausting😭😭😭😭😭😂😂😂😂😂😂

I remember how happy I was when I first discovered ISSA Rae on KZfaq. It was the first time I saw a dark skin black girl like me who was awkward and quirky. Before Issa came out, I only saw black women being portrayed as angry black women. I also am a nerd, I always been a comic fan, I still watch cartoons as an adult, I like listening to different genres of music not just one genre, and I’m socially awkward. I use to be bullied for not fitting a stereotype but now black people like me are finally being accepted.

There was an episode of The Cleveland Show where Cleveland had an existential crisis about whether he was “black enough”, and Donna said something that’s really stuck with me since: “Being black isn’t about this stereotypical nonsense, it’s about being comfortable in your own skin.”

Anytime my quirkiness or nerdiness has been used to question my Mexican-ness, it's been by Mexican-Americans. I came to realize that their experience of growing up othered in both communities - too Mexican to be White and too White to be Mexican - gave them a chip on their shoulder. They were projecting on me their own insecurities. It's so wild how those experiences growing up without a sense of belonging can evolve into feeling the need to perform Mexican-ness.

I'm glad this video addressed the complexities of class on this trope. Largely it's middle class or wealthy black people who are afforded the freedom to be "weird" or "quirky". Its often framed as if proximity to whiteness causes or allows these quirks and as more black folks tell our own stories it'll be nice to see more varied depictions across class lines.

And you know exactly what the executives who looked at Isa Rae and told her they didn't think her stories dealt with black issues looked like. Because to them if it's not a stereotype it's not black. Because they still see black people as one dimensional props.

Afrofuturism and Afro-Surrealism are really underrated genres but hopefully, they gain more fans.

Wow this whole video is REMISSED for not mentioning, "Living Single" that show showed so many variations of being black and from the female perspective to. Truly a show beyond its time.

As a blerd, a black nerd. A lot of these shows have inspired me to write my own characters and create the world I want to create.

Literally my life. For years, I had been told I wasn't black enough because I didn't play into stereotypes, even by my own family.

I spent my first 10 years growing up as a "quirky" black kid because I read comic books, I liked soccer and was smart. And once I moved to the "hood" I had to change and adopt which was a blessing and a cruse and I got older. It's good to see the quirkiness in everyone is being more accepted in our community. Its cool and okay to just be you. Just be you at the end of the day and if people don't rock with you well that's their loss.

Media is hella important man, I didn’t think I fit anywhere in this culture as myself until I moved to Brooklyn and saw all different kinds of people, some of them just like me and then it hit me that I can just be me and it’s ok. I’m Nigerian and I first moved to Texas by myself as a teenager, it’s such a weird fucking time to be alone without any family in a whole nother country. I’m black but not really, I’m African but also not really. It took me 10 fucking years to put my American self and Nigerian self into one person. I mean it’s wild how this shit works. I thought I was alone until I first read Americanah. Not everyone will have the opportunity to leave Texas or Arizona or wherever the fuck you find yourself and move to Brooklyn, the bastion of culture in my eyes, but if we have more popular stories of people like us, then it’s easier for us to accept ourselves and for other people to accept us. This shit is so important

I really like how this analysis talked about the dangers of this trope and how it can morph into anti-blackness and perpetuate a "not like those other black people" mindset, it definitely can be a balanced trope.

The gag is the us quirky black folks love and appreciate our blackness far more than “others” do 💯🌻

I remember being quirky and silly in my high school years and white people used to be like “Girl...you’re black,” as if I needed it as a reminder that I can’t act a certain way (be myself) and that I should be yo yo yo-ing every sentence. That “carefree black girl” thing wasn’t cool back then. People like us got a lot of flack from it on both sides!

Every character can't be John Shaft or Cleopatra Jones. We're special at times but regular most days.

Eric from ‘Sex Education’. What a character!

"I'm human first, in black circumstances" is exactly the articulation I've been searching for. Thank you.

As a nerdy quirky mixed girl I was sobbing when Missy came to terms with her personality, up until then I never had any sort of representation of my experience. As a kid, everyone would constantly ask me if I felt black or white and I thought I had to choose one, so I chose black because I got treated black everywhere in the world except Africa, where I was the white girl, so I ended up just feeling like an anomaly, something that shouldn't exist because nobody seemed to think it was possible that I was a mix of both cultures. Now I know better, I know that having influences from both Senegal and Germany made me into a unique person with values from both cultures, proportional to how much time I spent in the respective countries.

Is it possible for you to put the titles of the movies and shows your talking about in the bio? It would help us find these a lot easier. Great video!

This speaks to me so much. I've always been the nerdy, awkward black girl growing up. I've been a tomboy and have had very unconventional interest (like horseback riding in undergrad). No, at 36, I'm a proud black woman that is also an anime nerd, gamer, brony/pegasister, furry, and DnD player. I have gotten shit for not being "really black", but thankfully, I stopped caring about what others thought. If you only base your hobbies and interests on how much others like them, you won't have any hobbies. I'm never been prouder to be who I am and to participate in the things that make me happy.

is it wrong, that I want to see more POC works(especially comic books, sci-fi, horror, &fantasy) by POC?

I think Gus from Psych would have been a good fit for this episode too. He's definitely not as quirky as Sean, but he's a combo of the quirky and nerdy stereotypes.

As an actor this makes me proud why because I'm not the stereotypical sassy black woman I cringe when people message me with role like that because it's been enough of those characters

Love that media now highlights me. I’ve always been the “awkward black girl”. Now at 54 yrs old, I’m successful in my career and marriage but I’m still a ABG. My best friend is too so at least in my real life I’m not alone 🤣

As a white writer, I love these breakdowns/explanations of tropes for POC. I feel like they're a good guide (or starter) for writing diverse characters

Every day, I’m prouder to be Black 🖤

I enjoy seeing Black characters like this because it's one of the very few non-racist ways a Black person can exist on screen.

1:18 As a mixed African-American man myself, I can totally relate to him. Nothing insults me more than when someone (of any race) says that I "talk and act like a White guy." I've never had the stereotypical accent or behavior one associates to Black people, so I've always felt "different" in some way. And that annoys me more than anything. I'm glad there's other people who have similar struggles to mine.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is still one of the greatest sitcoms ever and was so ahead of its time.

Expecting only sass, excellence or activism from black characters has been super limiting, I'm so glad we're seeing characters who have a more nuanced experience, and I'm a fan of this trope, as a lover of indie music, Star Wars and books

It still leaves me speechless sometimes when I hear what Issa went through with Insecure. Just imagine how awkward it felt when white executives told her, a black writer, that her stories don’t reflect a true black experience… but her story is literally her own black experience. Because obviously the white executives would know better than her what it’s like to be authentically black. 🤦🏾‍♀️ Smh they live in such a bubble of privilege that they see absolutely NOTHING wrong with telling someone of another race…that THEIR OWN STORIES about THEIR OWN RACE are wrong. That episode of Family Matters where Eddie was racially profiled always bothered me. Carl being a cop wouldn’t make him suddenly blind to the injustices that happen daily. He wasn’t born a cop, he grew up in the hood, and he grew up in an even worse era than Eddie where cops were openly racist and violent towards black people (men especially). I didn’t think about the race of the writers of these shows back when I was growing up, I just knew when something didn’t sit right with me. It’s actually nice to know a black writer was in the room and felt the same way. Sad that she was ignored.

I love the point made about white characters not having to break the mold and fight for representation. White characters can literally be anything - quirky, jock, nerd, drug dealer, brooding, rich, poor, violent, even embody stereotypes from other cultures - and still be considered white. Excited that Black people and all POC are starting to get to enjoy that on screen as well.

Funny how executives didn't think Issa's show represented the black experience. When I first watched her show, I felt like there was finally a show that represented my real experience as a black person.

YES!! AS A BLACK AUTISTIC PERSON, I NEEDED THIS!!!

Great video, as a quirky black guy myself who’s into Anime and nerdy stuff I grew up feeling like Carlton. I’m glad we’re finally getting representation.

There are a LOT more awkward and alternative black people than everyone realizes. Now that it’s considered more acceptable (even in the black community) I see more black people letting their quirkiness out. I love it. We all have our own unique quirks regardless of race.

Michaela Coel and Issa Rae are my Writing Queens ❤️

The world sucks, but at the same time we come such a long way. So many great creators, great shows, films, great voices.

Please make a video about how Black families are portrayed in shows and movies

Black creators telling their own stories! I love it

As a Black Veteran and Army Brat, I’ve had to reckon with how my upbringing made me culturally different and separated from both Black and general American cultures. It was painful in my teen years, and it never stopped being awkward and lonely. I’m glad these characters exist, because I exist, even though I spent years being called Urkel.

I'm commenting to give a shout out to my fave "quirky black nerd" Sheila (played by Toy Newkirk) in A Nightmare on Elm Street part 4 back in 1988 . She was awesome and the first time I'd seen anyone like her on screen.

As a Black adult doll collector and anime enthusiast, this video hit me hard.

We’ve existed for a long time, and I’m soooo glad we now have REAL representation. It shows that we are not what everyone else mirrors back to us. We are more than our struggle and some of us have never struggled. Shout out to shows like Grand Crew, and Issa Rae is a force!

MY people right here. Donald Glover, Lakeith Stanfield, and Issa Rae speak for people like me. I really dig Issa Rae's freestyle affirmations, D Glover's rap persona, as a writer, actor and Entertainer is amazing. Lakeith is one of my favorite Actors. He has a gift to flow from goofy comedic character to serious, and thoughtful. The eccentric, creative person not confined by cultural close mindedness.

I kinda feel like like that I empathize and relate to this type. I kinda almost constantly feel like I’m not “Black enough” as I live in a multiracial part of my home state of Maryland, having kinda of a white sounding voice, I kinda part my hair to the left and doing/liking a lot of things that aren’t stereotypically Black like comic books, anime, rock music, LOTR, long boarding/skateboarding, and I just only recently just accepted myself as I am and essentially my Blackness.

I usually hate seeing white commentary on black stuff, but The Take consistently presents information from an AUTHENTICALLY researched POV without trying to make it come across like they can necessarily relate to all the topics they cover. 💯

I love Winston 😂❤️ he is hands down my favorite character on that show. Especially after he adopts the cat 😂😂😂❤️

People saying Insecure is not representative of black people's life and the first episode I felt like they had put a hidden camera in at my job 😆 I love Issa so much!

It's interesting that one of the books branded as "White Interests" is Count of Monter Cristo, writen by Alexandre Dumas, who was a black frenchman.

I was a quirky/bohemian black teen in the 80s when there was no representation of how my friends and I moved in the world. I loved my Pretty in Pink soundtrack as much as I loved my Whoduni album. It is wonderful to now begin to see a more varied representation of black folks in shows/movies.

I'm glad my art is becoming mainstream, now! I'm a quirky black person!

Very interested to see how you guys analyze "Insecure" as an overall series once it wraps.

When I tell you I screamed in excitement as soon as I saw the title!!! 😍💗😭👏🏽

'Dope' is a film that also depicted and explored this subject with such uniqueness, which is the perspective of being 'quirky' in the hood. Darius is the pinnacle of this archetype- in fact he's in a league of his own.

"Awkward Black girl" was the first time I ever saw myself represented in media. I was in college when it came out and her first ep I was like omgoshhh I do that!!! 😂😭

Thank you for this well-researched and wonderfully presented Take! Loved watching it

I spent my entire lunch break watching this video. MORE OF THIS, PLEASE!!!

This channel is so informative and funny. Love you guys! Whenever I don’t know what movie to watch … this is the go to channel! ♥️

i friggin loove this topic!!! i was obsessed with awkward black girl when i first saw it,,,it was the show i didn't realise i needed. i knew she would go far with such honest and relatable content.

Wow this was so therapeutic to watch. I’ve been called “ weird” growing so many times , it is exhausting trying to fit yourself into a box 📦 of expectations from other people, we’re not a monolith, our experiences are so varied and unexpected it’s time to start taking us the way we are. Thanks again The Take, knocking it out of the park AGAIN 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

I watched the first season of Insecure and really enjoyed it. They awards seasons came out and it was in the Comedy category, which I didn’t understand as I watched it as a drama, pretty much a tragedy as a matter of fact. I couldn’t go back to watching it, it didn’t make sense a a comedy, it was just too sad and heartbreaking.

while not exactly awkward, Jamal from On My Block is probably my favorite example. Love his growth from a complete nerd who obsesses over video games and treasure hunts to an unconsiderate (but still hilarious) womanizer. Truly the star of the show.

Thank you for doing this topic justice!

If we're gonna talk about Black Nerd subtropes we gotta talk about the laziness of the "Blacker/ Black Hacker" trope as a way to sideline characters but celebrate themselves for being "diverse & progressive in their thinking. Valerie from Josie & the Pussycats original, Wade from Kim Possible, Aldus Hodge in Leverage, Theo in Die Hard, Daryl Chill Mitchell in NCIS New Orleans, Rihanna/8-Ball in the recent Oceans reboot, the upcoming 355 with Lupita's character, and many MANY MORE. Honestly, a lot of BIPOC people are sidelined in predominantly white adventure narratives with the Hacker trope, which, because it's become so promenient, is in it's own way a form of punishing marginalized people for having brains.

I'd love to see a show where black people can just be black people in peace, just a simple show about a black friend group, No gang related storyline, no overley sassy black girl stereotype, no police brutality/experiencing racism story arc. Let's just make a show about kids growing up, maybe even a show about college kids or adulting in general. A simple show where we can have fun Halloween episodes every season that aren't actually Canon to anything that happens in the show, something that the family could watch together 😭

I was just talking to my bestie about this! I am so thankful for Isa Ray and Summer Walker two of my favorite awkward black girls. 💕 They are showing me that it is totally fine to be awkward and take up space. Bless them!

Freddie (Cree Summer) from "A Different World" is the OG quirky black woman. She was awesome❤ Honourable mention: Lynn from "Girlfriends"

I think „everybody hates Chris“ would have also been nice for that trope

It's so sad how every time you guys do a video on Black topics, the views are SO LOW smh. Thanks The Take u ladies are amazing and well thought out. Please keep it up!

I can relate to this so much. I’m someone that on the outside I have the stylish, pretty hot girl vibe and on the inside I’m quirky and such a nerd, I adore alternative music, I love sci-fi comics. I enjoy physics, astronomy, history and so on. I love both sides of myself and I’m comfortable expressing them both. But I do have friends that I don’t show my nerdy side to, cos they can’t relate to me on that level

Hell yeah love that kid steve urkel, the most prominent member from family matters, dont know who any other characters names are but everyone knows steve urkel.

I haven't seen black country characters. There are rural black people, there are black Appalachians. Yet I never see them in media. I also don't see black poor people often. Actually, I don't see poor people in media in general.

Love this video. Thanks so much for sharing ♥

this nearly brought me to tears, thank you

Very well done! I enjoyed watching ❤️

Too bad they didn't mention Sinclair from Living Single or Myra from Family Matters

I love this so much! 💕

I love Winston being obsessed with puzzles and cats!!!

Shoutout to my black goths out there

Shoutout to my fellow “Oreos”