With a plethora of Black faces on TV and in films in everything from HBO's I May Destroy You to FX's Pose and OWN's Queen Sugar, it seems unimaginable that just a decade ago, there were almost no Black or brown faces on the big and small screens. Growing up watching a plethora of series like Living Single and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and seeing movies like Love & Basketball and Friday Issa Rae found herself baffled by the lack of representation in the 2010s, so she decided to do something about it.
One year before Kerry Washington introduced us to Olivia Pope, Rae gave us a witty, refreshing, and unique depiction of Black women on-screen. The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl debuted on YouTube in 2011 and immediately swept across the internet like wildfire. The series garnered die-hard fans, critical acclaim, and a Shorty Award.
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