Issa Rae and the Power of the Awkward Black Girl
There are few people that I look up to, the matriarchs of my family, Oprah and Issa Rae. In 2018, where Women of Colour repensentation in media is being fought for and being recognized by more executives in the Indsurty (Beyonce headlining Cochella and Ava Duvary directing Disneys’ A Wrinkle in Time), Issa Rae was one the forerunners of using the Internet to produce content for Black Women by Black Women.
In 2011 when YouTube content creation was at its prime Jo-Issa Diop premiered her revolutionary web series — The Miss-Adventures of Awkward Girl. I remember finding Awkward Black Girl at the tender and very impressionable age of 13 and feeling an overwhelming sense of comfort and empathy. Finally someone who understood me. Issa Rae produced,directed and starred in this critically acclaimed show. For two seasons Awkward Black Girl documented the hilarous and at times uncomfortable work and love life of J(Issa Rae). Awkward Black Girl was able to show a realstic and non-stereotypical portrayal of a B
lack woman through the platform of YouTube. This webseries launched Issa Raes Career as a web content creator,author, writer and director.
Awkward Black Girl was a low budget, Kickstarter project that was inspired by an article that question where was the Black version of 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon. As a fellow fan of t.v and movies seeing only white characters that I could connect with while being disrespected by the same stereotypical black characters regurgitated was disapointing. Issa Rae was able to identify the problem of the lack of diverse black female characters and used the accessible platform of YouTube to create and share that story. Issa Rae wrote, “If it weren’t for YouTube, I would still be at studios trying to convince executives that Awkward Black Girls really do exist.” Awkward Black Girl to date has over 20 million views on YouTube.This show earned her a spot on Forbes 30 under 30 in 2012, along with a Shorty Award. In 2012, Awkward Black Girl gave her the opportunity to collaborate with Pharell Williams on his YouTube Channel i am Other. She also founded Issa Rae Productions which features content from rising Creatives of Colour on her YouTube channel which has over 400,000 subscribers.
Issa Rae’s online and real life persona became synonymous with the Awkward Black Girl. She is known for being honest, down to earth and goofy. I feel like she’s a cool older sister that could give me some really good advice about life. This is a role/brand that she has developed for herself. In 2015 she aquired a book deal with Simon and Schuster. Her New York Times Bestseller autobiography, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl was published. A hilarious book which brought readers through her life and why she identifies as an Awkard Black Girl. She explained why she felt it was important to show to society that Black Women are more then what is stereotypically protrayed. She questioned in her book, “How hard is it to portray a three-dimensional woman of color on television or in film?”She wanted people to understand that Black Women are educated, are creative and can’t be confided into one type. Sometime last year, I was walking down the PATH in Toronto holding this book and a fellow Women of Colour stopped me and we had a good conversation about Issa Rae.
In her book she recalls writing her first movie script in high school which she sent to Gina Prince-Bythewood (Black Female writer and director of Love and Basketball and Beyond the Lights). Bythewood actually wrote back, giving Issa praises and encouraging her to continue to be creative. Issa also talks about her inspiration for acting and directing in her book. During university, she would write and direct plays . It is also where she developed her first web series, Dorm Diaries on what it’s like to be black at Stanford University which she posted on Facebook. This series went viral around her campus and even reached other universities in the States. This book along with her web series built an online Awkward Black Girl community.
Issa’s goal of having more Women of Colour stories being represtend in mainstream media became a reality in 2015, when HBO picked up her show Insecure. Th critically acclaimed show premiered in October of 2016. Insecure explores the work and love lives of Issa Dee (Issa Rae) and her bestfriend Molly Carter (Yvonne Orji). Even though they lead different lives, Issa works for a non-profit organization and Molly is a successful lawyer, they both face discrimination at work, have men troubles, drama with friends and feel insecure about their life choices. With shows like Sex and the City and Girls which feature white women and their dysfunctional and so-called relatable lives, Issa was able to bring forth a show that illustrates what a black woman of today is really like. According to the LA Times Issa stated while on a press tour that “We’re just trying to convey that people of color are relatable," as the shows purpose. Insecure further pushed Issa’s Career and gave her the recogintion she deserved not only from the Black community.
Every Sunday during and after a new episode of Insecure aired, people on Twitter would discuss the drama that unfloded on the show. #InsecureHBO would become a trending topic. Issa through her show has been able to facilitate discussions on various issues that Women of Colour face and that people in general face just trying to navigate their late 20’s. In an episode of season one, after becoming drunk, Issa at a local club she gets on stage and sings a very inapporaote song which someone posts online. Her song goes viral and people at her work find out. Being careful of what we post online in fear of our employers seeing our bad behaviour is a real fear.
Issa Rae pointed out in an interview with Complex magazine that Insecure does not tell the black woman story but it does tell a singular black woman’s story that is relatable. This mission was executed becuase people regradless of race and colour where able to connect to the show in some way. The two time Golden Globe nominated show Insecure, is the first show on HBO to star and be directed by a black woman. Issa has made a point to mainly show male nudity which she justfied during an interview on The View by saying that it “even the playing fleid” in a industry that over sexualizes women nudity. The show has also been praised for having excellent lighting for a mainly black cast. CBC wrote that “ The show [Insecure]plays with shadows, colour and light in a way that makes the characters pop and glow, and that’s very rare for actors of colour who are often either washed out or cloaked in darkness on film”. As a black woman who loves to take selfies, lighting is very important. Season one of Insecure was able to draw in in over three million views. Season two which premiered in 2017, increased to over nine million views. Insecure has been picked up for a third season. During season two of Insecure Issa hosted a YouTube show called Wine Down where she would discuss and recap the episodes with fellow actors,writers and directors on the show.
If you were to comb through Issa’s social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter she shares posts and tweets prasing and encouraging fellow black creatives such as Frank Ocean ,Trace Ellis Ross and Tiffany Haddish. A viral meme of her stating her support for Black artists at the 2017, Emmy’s further solidifies her passion for supporting People of Colour. She had Solange Knowles as her music curator for season one and Season two’s soundtrack was filled with new and indie black artists. Recently she was featured in Drake’s music video for his song Nice For What which honoured influential female celebreties. She was also featured as the Black Rachel in Jay Z’s Friends recreation for his music video for Moonlight. According to an interview with Vulture she is now creating two new shows for HBO. One is called Him or Her which is about a bisexual Black Man and his love intrests. The other show called Sweet Life(Frank Ocean refrence) which she described as the black 90210. She has also been casted in the film adaption of the bestselling Y.A novel, The Hate U Give.
Issa’s passion for creating and sharing diverse stories about People of Colour all started with the internet. From her humble beginings on now Issa Rae is on her way to becoming a powerhouse in the television industry. She understands that using these social media platforms to support and collabrate with other Artist of Colour is essential to fostering this creative community. She also created and built an identity as the Awkward Black Girl which millions of us have adapted. The Awkward Black Girl has since successfully transcribed from the internet to a book to television. The trend of having more shows dedicated to tell People of Colour’s stories is at a all time high with shows like Dear White People on Netflix , Atlanta on FX, and Grown-ish on Freeform are all popular and have high ratings. Thanks to internet content creators like Issa Rae who have used social media for the betterment of People of Colour represtantion in the mainstream media.
