Issa Rae has come a long way since writing, producing, and starring as the awkward black girl in her YouTube webseries aptly titled Awkward Black Girl.
The LA native has made a brand from being herself, from her HBO-produced for the culture series Insecure to her recent modeling gig as one of the newest faces for CoverGirl. And now, instead of gracing the feeds of our YouTube subscriptions, she is stunting on us with that leading lady glow at red carpet events, award shows, and cover after cover of some of the biggest publications – we see you AdWeek!
Issa is the gift that keeps on giving and recently, we learned that her partnership with HBO has deepened. She will have not just one show on premium cable – but three!
As if the conversations that constantly circulate around #TeamIssa vs. #TeamLawrence following every episode of the show Insecure weren't enough, Issa has created two more series to provoke the uncomfortable, often controversial dialogue amid the millennial minds of today.
Ms. Rae will – once again – wear the hat of executive producer of both of the new HBO shows, set to premiere in 2018.
The first series is Him & Her, which is a half-hour sitcom centered on a bisexual man as he maneuvers through the varying challenges of dating, love, and relationships.
The other is an hour-long drama, co-created with Scandal writer, Raamala Mohamed, called Sweet Life. It is said to be coming-of-age story that revolves around the black elite and depicts the black upper-middle class community. Think Beverly Hills 90210 meets Baldwin Hills.
Yearlong subscriptions to HBO Go are about to be lit!
Everything Issa touches seems to turn gold, so there's no doubt the public will respond positively and support her new shows just like they do when they clamor around the TV to issue their dissertations on Insecure on Twitter in real-time. What's the secret behind Issa's success?
Well, it's probably her relatability and her FUBU demeanor. In every interview, she carries herself like someone who knows exactly who she is and what she brings to the table just as much as she is fully aware of who her platform is for. It's no surprise that black girls, women, even men are all here for it.
As someone who has witnessed Issa Rae's career unfold beautifully, this is a huge stepping stone because it's a come up for black women in film and entertainment. Every new level Issa reaches, means that a new door opens up for the black woman behind her.
It's more than just a black girl's magic moment, Issa takeover!
Featured image via Giphy
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Since it’s Stress Awareness Month, we caught up with Keanne Owens, LCSW, founder of Journey To Harmony Therapy Center, to talk about these triggers and what Black women can do to manage and cope.
Owens is an experienced South Florida-based counselor and social worker who offers her services via Grow Therapy, a therapy and medication management platform. She has worked with Black women professionals to unpack issues related to workplace stressors. “One is the pressure to perform–having to meet deadlines and deliverables. And a lot of times, these subtle stressors from performance are put upon ourselves as Black women. We want to make sure we’re doing our best. We don’t want to be critiqued in certain ways.”
Excessive micromanagement leading to fear of overly critical bosses is another subtle trigger that can negatively impact Black women in the workplace.
“Whenever something is done wrong, or we experience some type of injustice and have to report it, it’s the fear of retaliation–[fear that] we won’t be taken seriously or [our words] will be taken out of context because of being deemed as the ‘angry Black woman,’” she said.
Black Women And Workplace Stress Triggers
Her sentiments are backed by research. A recent report by Coqual found that 28% of Black women (compared to 17% of White men) say their supervisor uses “excessive control or attention to detail” when managing them. There’s more: A survey by the National Employment Law Project found that Black workers were “more likely to have concerns (80 percent) and twice as likely as white workers (18 percent) to have unresolved concerns at work, with 39 percent reporting they were “not satisfied with the employer’s response or did not raise concerns for fear of retaliation.”
The survey also found that 14 percent of Black respondents said they “avoided raising concerns to their employer for fear of retaliation—more than twice the average rate of 6 percent for all survey respondents.”
Owens pointed to the fact that these subtle stress triggers can negatively impact our physical health and our career advancement. “A lot of time it’ll affect our productivity,” Owens added. “We start to have negative thoughts of ourselves. The stressors can also cause fatigue. We’re no longer meeting or working up to our desired potential.” Other challenges as a result include insomnia and increased insolation, withdrawal, and lack of motivation to apply for jobs or promotions even when qualified.
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How To Manage Subtle Stress Triggers
While there are systemic issues at play for Black women at work that has less to do with us and more to do with major overhauls that must be addressed by the powers that be, there are steps we can take for the betterment of ourselves and our mental health. Owens offered the following tips:
Tap into a support system, whether it’s a coworker you trust, a family member, an organization, or an outlet like a hobby.
Create a good work-life balance before burnout even starts. “Having certain boundaries [is the goal] such as, for example, if you get off at 5, you get off at 5. If your job description is this, you don’t go above and beyond because that brings you to a lot of burnout,” Owens said.
Prioritize self-care, whatever that means for you. “If you don’t have a routine, create one. Practice mindfulness and even some meditation,” she added.
Create structure in your life outside of work. “Even if you have a family, applying some structure in your routine helps relieve stress,” she said.
Get into grounding techniques. “Do a real quick square breathing exercise, that’s literally 30 seconds, or you can do a grounding technique that’s less than two minutes, right there where you are. You don’t need any other materials. That’s something you can do with just yourself and your body.”
Ask for help. “As Black women, we don’t ask for help enough,” she said. “Find where you need to ask for help. A lot of times, people think that’s indicative of weakness, but we need to rewrite that narrative. It’s okay to ask for help where you see fit. [If] you’re a mom, [it could be] every Wednesday from 5 to 6, your children are with the dad. You have to carve out that time.”
For more information on Grow Therapy, visit their website. You can also find out more about Keanne Owens, LCSW, via BeginYourJourneyToHarmony.com.
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