Jo-Issa Rae Diop, also known as Issa Rae, is an American actor, writer, producer, and comedian who was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 12, 1985.
For her work on the YouTube web comedy 'Awkward Black Girl', Issa Rae first came to public recognition. Rae has been working to expand her YouTube channel since 2011, which now includes a variety of black-produced short films, web series, and other media.
Famous Issa Rae Quotes
Issa Rae appeared in the entertainment category of the yearly Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2012. Here are some fantastic quotations from her.
As the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO comedy series Insecure (2016–2021), for which she has received numerous Golden Globe nominations and Primetime Emmy nominations, Rae has gained broader prominence.
"I thrive on obstacles. If I'm told that it can't be told, then I push harder."
"I’ll stick to finding funny in the ordinary because my life is pretty ordinary and so are the lives of my friends – and my friends are hilarious."
"My first web series, 'Dorm Diaries', was a realistic mockumentary about what it was like to be black at Stanford University. I'm black and I went to Stanford. Boom. Easy."
"I think that television and the web are fusing anyway, so I think that ultimately whatever I do, I'm going to blend the two forms."
"Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t want to die alone, but spending quality time with myself 60 to 70 % of the day is my idea of mecca."
"I'll stick to finding funny in the ordinary because my life is pretty ordinary and so are the lives of my friends - and my friends are hilarious."
"Why don't people understand that nobody wants to hear what they should have done when something has already happened?"
"It's a bit cliche, but you can't go wrong by writing what you know. Even if you're a horrible writer, your own knowledge and experience are unrivaled. Nobody knows what you know like you know what you know. The way you see things is pretty unique."
"The web presents an opportunity to showcase any character your sick mind desires. Want to create a cross-dressing, deaf/mute, corrupt politician who has a soft spot for saving children? Go for it!"
"For a long time . . . I defined myself by what I wasn't, which constantly set me up for failure and disappointment. And my life changed when I focused on what I was good at, what I liked most about myself, and what made me stand out."
"Part of the allure of watching characters on-screen is to be able to put yourself in his or her shoes or to be able to relate to what he or she is going through or what he or she is thinking."
Issa Rae Quotes About Women
Issa Rae is a supporter of the women's and civil rights movements. Social justice and equality are the main topics in her writing. She collaborates closely with groups including Black Lives Matter, the ACLU, and BLD PWR.
"I found that every time I asked for permission the answer tended to be no, so I had to make my own yeses."
"Respectfully, 'Awkward Black Girl' was never meant to be politically correct. We poke fun at ignorance."
"Every time I'm recognized in public, I'm super grateful and appreciative, but I also get hot and nervous. "
"I'm a proud Black woman who likes swimming, owns an electric car, and Downtown Abbey. That's me. And just by being me, I'm being Black.
"As women, we tend to downplay ourselves. We tend to dim our light and we’re kind of conditioned socially to be humble."
"I just feel like it’s so important to have these spaces where you feel safe, where you can be creative, and have a sense of comfort. To know that it’s your space."
"This is the time where everyone has a voice, where[there] are so many platforms dedicated to giving the average person a voice, so you can speak out."
"It takes confidence. It takes a sense of knowing what you want to say . . . but sometimes, as women in the workplace, you really have to speak up for yourself and not expect to be rewarded automatically."
Issa Rae Quotes For Inspiration
Issa Rae has raised awareness of police brutality and violence against African-Americans using her platform. After Alton Sterling was killed by police in 2016, she raised $700,000 for the Sterling Family Trust to assist with the cost of the Sterling children's college education.
"Stop trying so hard to be someone you’re not."
"Stop making excuses; you’re the only one stopping you."
"Embrace who you are now and embrace what makes you different."
"There’s so much creativity in brokenness. Brokenness will have you making it work."
"Once you’re coming up with ways that you can’t do something, you’re not gonna do it."
"Stop finding the ways that you can’t do something and find all the ways that you can and just go for it."
"If people don’t like you for who you are then those people aren’t meant to be in your life. You don’t want them there anyway."
"If a company is only as good as its weakest employee, then what does that say about you and the job you hold?"
"My confidence comes from doing what I love to be honest like to be able to create something from the ground up and to be able to… kind of walk in your purpose is a great feeling."
"The discussion of representation is one that has been repeated over and over again, and the solution has always been that it’s up to us to support, promote, and create the images that we want to see."
"Diversity is still a huge issue. We need more people of color in positions of power to greenlight content. If you want to see the content of color, then it has to be in the hands of people of color."
"I compare myself a lot to others. Sometimes, we feel like, 'Why is that not my opportunity?' But what's meant for you is meant for only you. You get anxious. You feel like everybody's surpassing you, and everybody's doing better than you are. That's just not the case. Everybody has their own journey, and your journey is yours."
Issa Rae Quotes About African-Americans
'Insecure' by Issa Rae received a prize in 2018 at the 77th Peabody Awards for producing a series that truly reflects the lives of everyday young, Black people in contemporary culture.
"I'm rooting for everybody black."
"The advantages of black hair are infinite."
"Black women aren’t bitter, they're just tired of being expected to settle for less."
"People are tired of mainstream media's limited and confined portrayal of people of color."
"The very definition of 'blackness' is as broad as that of 'whiteness,' yet we're seemingly always trying to find a specific, limited definition."
"As Ralph Ellison once posited, we’re invisible to them. We’re simply not on their radar. As long as the people who are in charge aren’t us, things will never change."
"Black and awkward is the worst because black people are stereotyped as being anything but awkward in mainstream media... Black people are always portrayed to be cool or overly dramatic, anything but awkward."
"I never really had to put much thought into my race, and neither did anybody else. I knew I was black. I knew there was a history that accompanied my skin color, and my parents taught me to be proud of it. End of story."
"It’s one thing when other African-American tries to threaten my race card, but when people outside of my ethnicity have the audacity to question how ‘down’ I am because of the bleak, stereotypical, picture pop culture has painted for me as a black woman? Unacceptable."
"There is a widening gap between the education of black women and men, which doesn’t leave very many 'suitable' suitors. Unfortunately, the higher one’s degree, as a black woman, the lower your chances are of getting married."
"I have never dated a white person. I've actually never dated outside of my race, period. But my friends are in interracial relationships and it bothers me that whenever interracial relationships are depicted on screen, they are with just white people. It's another way media in general centers whiteness."
"You don't get the benefit of the doubt in these [law enforcement] situations. They're not going to be like, ‘Hey, Brown man and Black lady, y'all didn't do this, right?"
"Only people of color think about other people of color and really, only Black people think about Black people. No one else has the determination to employ us or to make sure that we're seen and represented."
"How hard is it to portray a three-dimensional woman of color on television or in film? I’m surrounded by them. They’re my friends. I talk to them every day.
How come Hollywood won’t acknowledge us? Are we a joke to them? Now, having been in the industry for a couple of years, I’m not entirely sure it’s blatant racism, as I had once assumed. It’s more complicated than that."
"It all made sense: my shyness, all the times I was dismissed for not being 'black enough,' my desire to reframe the images of black film and television, which I started to do when I created a series in college called Dorm Diaries, my inability to dance—these were all symptoms of my awkward blackness."
