Issa Rae quotes
You know, you have a lot of people - I've met a lot of people in the past, I've gone to private schools, you know, encountered different people who think that it's OK to make comments, insensitive comments about your race because they're joking. And think that if they're joking and they say it, you know, good-naturedly, that things will fly.
Issa Rae
There was such a dearth of films like that...And the high-school teen movie is a genre that I love. Everything at that age is so heightened and dramatic, and high-school movies capture that so perfectly. But those films are all white, too; there's no black teen movie genre that exists in the same way.
Issa Rae
The black characters on TV are the sidekicks, or they're insignificant. You could put all the black sidekicks on one show, and it would be the most boring, one-dimensional show ever. Even look at the black women on 'Community' and 'Parks and Recreation' - they are the archetype of the large black women on television. Snide and sassy.
Issa Rae
...I found the world of nonprofits funny to begin with just because having worked there, you see that people are so altruistic and they're so benevolent and they're pretty selfless and you're working generally for a great cause.But the atmosphere within the work environment can be oddly competitive. People want the credit. Sometimes they don't listen to the people they're trying to help. And for me, this white guilt is so prevalent at this nonprofit. And they're so - they treat the kids as this pity party. And for me, I would hate to work in an environment like this, but it's ripe for comedy.
Issa Rae
"My parents helped me and they hurt me...My mom was extremely pro-Black, and I believed her. My dad is Senegalese, and I grew up around my dark-skinned cousins and just thought that they were the most beautiful women in the world. I was surrounded by beautiful dark people. And then middle school hit, and I was like, Oh, they think I'm ugly. They think I'm big. They think I'm unattractive. I went back to my mom like, ‘What the f-k?! Y'all lied to me my whole life. What is this?!' I started realizing, Mom, you're light-skinned. So I don't know what you were talking about. It's not like you can relate to being dark. And your hair is not the same texture as mine. So what do you know about telling me I'm beautiful? Why would you lie to me? That definitely had an impact on how I saw myself.
Issa Rae
