Issa Rae Opens Up About Not ‘Feeling Black Enough’ Growing Up

On the Oct. 4 edition of ABC’s “The View,” actress Issa Rae stops by to talk about her new HBO series “Insecure.”

In the clip, Rae reveals that she struggled with fitting in as a young child. She was constantly moving from place to place, and that did not make things easier for her.

“I have learned to become confident with my insecurities,” she says. ” I embrace the fact that I am awkward … When you’re growing up you really don’t want to stand out. Going to an all-white school, you are constantly standing out … Not feeling Black enough when you are darker than everybody there, [I wondered] what am I then.”

Rae says her experience was sobering but inspired her work in her “Awkward Black Girl” series and “Insecure.”

Her latest project will air on HBO Friday, Oct. 7.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top