BHM 2022: Black Spectrum for Awkward Black Girls (Day 1)

 “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."

—Issa Rae, The Washington Post, 2012

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I've blogged about this topic before, but I made a Facebook post about it and to keep it consistent with everything else....let's talk about it again.

First off, full transparency....I love Issa Rae. In my head she's like the big cousin that I identify most with and whenever we have cookouts I just sit at her table and laugh.

So, when I had the opportunity to pull up at the Dunes, I was super stoked.

Beyond her creative genius, she represents so much to me.

Call it chance if you'd like, but my learning of The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl and the subsequent unveiling of "Insecure" came at a point in my life where I was stepping into adulthood. Trying to find my stride as one of these awkward black girls was very interesting...in every potential interpretation of the word...lol (PRAY, SAINTS!)

It wasn't necessarily a new space though. I'd spent majority of my youth in this bleak space. I won't get too much into that because...I already wrote about that...

...but back to Issa's quote I knew there was a “black” spectrum…I saw it in my own family, but by in large the reflection I saw on TV was pretty one dimensional, especially for black women. That’s why I can appreciate shows like The Cosby Show, A Different World…and yes, even Insecure.

Shoutout to Issa for making it cool to be an awkward black girl!