Issa Rae

Issa Rae
Born January 12, 1985 (age 30)
Alma mater Stanford University
New York Film Academy
Occupation Director, writer, actor
Known for Awkward Black Girl

Issa Rae is an American actress and writer. She is the creator of the YouTube workplace-comedy series Awkward Black Girl as well as Ratchet Piece Theater, The "F" Word, and The Choir.[1] Since the premiere of Awkward Black Girl in 2011, Rae’s shows have garnered over 20 million views and over 180,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Biography

She was born on January 12, 1985 to an African American mother and Senegalese father.

As a child, Rae lived in Potomac, Maryland, where she grew up with "things that aren't considered 'black,' like the swim team and street hockey and Passover dinners with Jewish best friends."[2] When she was in sixth grade, her family moved to Los Angeles and enrolled her in a predominantly black middle school where she was “berated for ‘acting white'" and initially found it difficult to "fit into this ‘blackness’ I was supposed to be."[3]

Rae attended Stanford University and graduated in 2007. As a college student, she made music videos, wrote and directed plays, and created a mock reality series called Dorm Diaries for fun. It was at Stanford that she met Tracy Oliver, who helped produce Awkward Black Girl and starred on the show as Nina. The two started taking classes together at the New York Film Academy.[4]

After graduation, Rae worked odd jobs and at one point was struggling to decide between business school and law school, but abandoned both ideas when Awkward Black Girl started taking off.[5]

Early career

Rae created Awkward Black Girl because she felt the Hollywood stereotypes of African-American women were limiting and she could not relate to them: "I felt like my voice was missing, and the voices of other people that I really respect and admire and wanna see in the mainstream are missing."[5] Her other shows -- Ratchet Piece Theater, The "F" Word, Roomieloverfriends, and The Choir—also focus on African-American experiences that are often not portrayed in the mainstream media.

In 2012, Rae made it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Entertainment list, and Awkward Black Girl won the Shorty Award for Best Web Show. In 2013, she began working on a pilot for the show I Hate LA Dudes.[6] She has also teamed up with Larry Wilmore to co-write Non-Prophet, an HBO comedy series about the awkward experiences of a contemporary African-American woman, in which she will be starring.[7] Rae is currently signed with United Talent Agency and 3 Arts Entertainment.

References

  1. ↑ Gopalan, Nisha. "Issa Rae on Awkward Black Girl, Her Shonda Rhimes Show, and Hating L.A. Guys". Vulture.com. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Hua, Vanessa (May 2012). "Awkward Stage". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ Crossley, Hilary (July 26, 2011). "5 Questions for Issa Rae on 'Awkward Black Girl'". Essence. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ Hua, Vanessa (May 2012). "Awkward Stage". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gray, Emma (November 5, 2013). "Issa Rae, Creator Of 'Awkward Black Girl', Felt Like Her Voice Was Missing From Pop Culture -- So Here's What She Did". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ "About Me". Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Issa Rae & Larry Wilmore To Create 'Non-Prophet' For HBO". vibe.com. August 6, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.

External links