When I began watching "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl" on YouTube, my middle school brain did not understand that I was watching a piece of media history in the making. For those who aren't hip, "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl" is an award winning web series based on the adventures of, you guessed it, an awkward black girl and is created by producer/writer/actress Issa Rae. As a self-proclaimed awkward black girl, I had the ability to identify with J in situations like walking down a long hallway and not knowing when you should greet the other person walking in the opposite direction. Should I ignore them and then speak to them once we meet in the middle? Should I immediately greet them and then suffer in silence as I continue my walk down the hallway? I still don't know what to do.
The well written show gained attention and soon became a branch of Pharrell's "i am OTHER". The creative conglomerate has about nine YouTube shows featured on the "i am OTHER" YouTube page, but all good things must come to an end. With two seasons, the series ended. Issa Rae's brand began to grow and develop through her YouTube channel. Viewers have been graciously given podcasts, lifestyle series and even more web series which all have a focus on Black people from various Black creatives all featured on her YouTube channel. Issa Rae is a mad genius in a way. She is able to birth these new projects in a way that only she could. She has her own flare and every move that she makes is purposeful. She is a black woman about her business and her business is making creative content which focuses on the experiences of the Black woman.
When I first learned that Issa Rae got her show picked up by HBO, I was fangirling all over the place. Excited and anxious to see what she would soon bless us with. Her new comedy series is entitled, "Insecure", and it will premiere in the fall. The show follows the lives of two Black women, Issa Dee and Molly Carter. To make things even better, Larry Wilmore is a show consultant and the first episode is directed by the woman behind the "Formation" video, Melina Matsoukas.
What makes Issa Rae so special is that she inspires so many. She shows you where hard work and dedication towards your craft can actually get you. It is important to have Black people, especially Black women, in the director's chair because the director ultimately controls the narrative. It is their vision that we see on the screen to interpret for ourselves. Black women seem to play three different stereotypes on the big screen-Jezebel, Sapphire, and/or Mammy. Black women are boxed into these stereotypes within the media and it has been extremely hard for us to escape. We are making progress with the re-introduction to complex Black female characters thanks to the likes of Shonda Rhimes, (I said re-introduction because, hello, Girlfriends people) but we need more. We deserve more narratives that accurately portray the diverse lives of Black women in America while also binding us together with the similar experiences we may have with racial microaggressions in our predominately white workplace or not feeling support in the "hot and new" feminist movement that is sweeping the country, inspiring white women across the country to burn their bras and to shake their fists at the patriarchal society in which we live, all while ignoring the narratives of the Black woman.
We need Black women like Issa Rae in the director's chair telling our stories while inspiring many creative Black girls to do the same. Issa Rae is an inspiration to me and will soon be one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. I have high hopes for Issa Rae, and I know that she will only exceed them.
