While a high IQ is often touted as a status symbol — a sign that the person who has it is amongst the most intelligent in the world — there’s actually a disparity, rooted in racism and white supremacy, in who earns a “genius-level” IQ ranking.
In 1998, Brookings released a report that explained how Black people — especially Black Americans — consistently score lower than white Americans on standardized IQ tests. While the gap has narrowed since 1970, “the typical American black still scores below 75 percent of American whites on almost every standardized test. This statistic does not imply, of course, that all blacks score below all whites. There is a lot of overlap between the two groups. Nonetheless, the test score gap is large enough to have significant social and economic consequences.”
So, when someone is certified as having a “high IQ,” it’s a good thing. But it’s even better if that “someone” is a Black man or woman, especially — according to Forbes — when a perceived low IQ is used by racists to claim the “innately lower intelligence” of Black people.
These Black men and women, however, have proven that they not only have a high IQ, but their IQs are — in some cases — higher than that of Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. Today, we salute these shining examples of Black excellence. More of this, please!
Philip Emeagwali
IQ: 190
Dr. Philip Emeagwali is considered “smarter than Albert Einstein” — according to Reader’s Digest — and the unsung hero of the Internet. Born in Nigeria in 1954, he left his home country after the Nigerian-Biafran war. His LinkedIn reveals that, in 1989, Emeagwali won the Gordon Bell supercomputing prize (the Nobel Prize for computation).
Kashe Quest
IQ: 146
Kashe Quest became a certified genius at just two-years-old. As AfroTech previously reported, Quest can identify all 50 states by shape and position on a map. She is learning to read, can sign over 50 signs in ASL, and can identify elements on the periodic table by their symbols. She is even learning Spanish, as a second language.
After an IQ test, it was determined that the precocious two-year-old has an IQ of 146, well above the genius level — making her qualified to become a member of American Mensa, a prominent high IQ society.
Caleb Anderson
IQ: Unknown, but as a member of Mensa, it is at least 132
In October 2020, AfroTech reported that 12-year-old Caleb Anderson was already a sophomore at Chattahoochee Technical College in Georgia. He already qualified for MENSA, and “Anderson’s admittance at the age of five, made him the youngest African American boy to become a member of the society during that period.”
Ramarni Wilfred
IQ: 162
AfroTech first told you about Ramarni Wilfred, who was only 11-years-old when it was revealed that his genius-level IQ was higher than that of Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. With a score of 162, Wilfred is considered the smartest boy in England’s capital.
Alannah George
IQ: 140
Alannah George is the youngest member of Mensa in the United Kingdom today. According to MSN, she taught herself how to read before starting school, and prefers reciting the alphabet and times tables rather than singing nursery rhymes.
Anala Beevers
IQ: 145
MSN reports Anala Beevers had an above-genius level IQ when she was only four-years-old. She can recite the name of every North American state and capital on the map. She also first identified the alphabet when she was only 10-months-old.
