Issa Rae: ‘We Need to Remember That Black People Are Human’

What a time to be black in America.

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“Obviously all lives matter, but black lives are the ones that are at risk right now,” said actress, director and writer Issa Rae. “Black lives are constantly being attacked.”

Rae has vociferously spoken out against the violence toward, and disregard for, black people in America. Recently she used her social capital for good, galvanizing nearly 30,000 people to raise over $400,000 on behalf of the family of Alton Sterling, slain at the hands of police in Baton Rouge, La.

“I get so passionate speaking about [Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter], because people are being willfully ignorant at this point,” Rae told The Root at Ozy Fusion Fest in New York City on Saturday.

Since the days of Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Rae has vigilantly worked to change the narrative of black people in the media, countering archaic and damning stereotypes of black women (read: Mammy, Sapphire, Jezebel).

This fall she will be starring in the HBO series Insecure (which is co-written with Larry Wilmore). Of the forthcoming series, Rae says, “I feel like we need to remember that black people are human. We should have the opportunity to be regular as hell.”

See the full interview below:

For more of black Twitter, check out The Chatterati on The Root and follow The Chatterati on Twitter.

Felice León is multimedia editor at The Root.