Of course those types of women exist and they have the right to exist but that was like a caricature and the women on these shows know what they’re playing into. At the time, it was just a reality show depiction of Black female behavior that the world was seeing.
Rae: To me, it was just making it clear that there wasn’t one type of Black woman.
There were just four Black women getting to tell this story and on the Internet that the mainstream media refused to tell, there was a lot of power and agency in being able to do that.įor(bes) The Culture: You’ve said that ABG was a response to the “mainstream media portrayal of what Blackness is.” What do you think that portrayal is of us, and how did ABG help to redefine that? From the producer Tracy Oliver to the other writers that I brought on, Amy Aniobi who still writes for Insecure to this day, and O.C. I knew that I could write the whole day but I think what shifted them from simple skits to a story and a series that you could watch online like a television series on the web was the team that I ended up working with. I had a lot of things I had social anxiety about, I had a lot of pet peeves, a lot of things that made me uncomfortable. Rae: I think just being my uncomfortable self. Initially, it was called Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, but I added the “mis-” because it was appropriate.įor(bes) The Culture: How did you use your awkwardness and authenticity and translate it into a strength that would later catapult your career? I always thought that was such a funny title and after it, I did my own version of it because I knew my character was going to be going through it. Rae: I was in New York, I was writing in my journal and I wrote down the phrase, “I’m awkward and Black.” I then came up with the title, Awkward Black Girl, after that and I was watching this show that aired on IFC called The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.
To have a small part in bringing those stories and the slice of Black life back on screen, I’m happy and proud to do so.įor(bes) The Culture: How did you come up with the title Mis-adventures of Awkward Black Girl and how do you identify with and normalize being an awkward Black girl? We’ve been denied the ability to just not be regular for a long time, since the ‘90s. I love storytelling and I love our stories. Rae: I guess I have an affinity for real life, real Black life and making sure that the people that I love and interact with everyday are represented on screen.
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