Good News for Issa Rae Is Good News for Us

By: Demetria L. Lucas | Posted: October 4, 2012 at 12:54 AM

Courtesy of Issa Rae

At Essence, The Root's contributing editor Demetria L. Lucas celebrates the announcement that The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl creator's new series will air on ABC.

Rae, always humble even as she racks up accolades -- she won Best Web Series at the Shorty Awards, which acknowledge the best content producers on social media, and was honored by ESSENCE at the Evening of Excellence Awards last month at the Congressional Black Caucus -- told the Washington Post that working with Rhimes has "been a dream."

The fulfillment of her dream is mine too. Rae has often said that one her biggest issues with Black women on TV is that she doesn’t see reflections of herself, which has always been my gripe as well. Speaking to the Post, she added that her new show proves "there are still opportunities for awkward black girls."

You know well how badly I want more from the images of Black women on TV, or just TV period. Reality shows are entertaining, but so many of the images cater to the lowest common denominator. And while I enjoy reality series like Tia & Tamera, Mary Mary and R&B Divas, I still miss well-written scripted shows, like Martin, A Different World and Living Single, which captured our interests in the '80s and '90s. Of course, I tune in to Scandal each Thursday to catch Kerry Washington, but I greedily want more, more, more! I’m glad ABC is filling my hunger by adding Rae and Rhimes’ collaboration to our TV lineup!

Read Demetria L. Lucas' entire piece at Essence.com.

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