Issa Rae

Not too many people knew about Issa Rae until it was announced that she would be releasing a brand new show on HBO titled “Insecure”. A new show with a Black female lead character? A must see! I stumbled upon the show scrolling through my apple tv one night in my dorm room trying to find something to watch. I’ve been blessed (or hooked) ever since. Several people still didn’t know how to feel about Issa Rae after watching the first episode of her brand new comedy but if you’re anything like me, you were sold with the first episode! And if you’re really like me after watching her talking to herself in the mirror, conversations with her best friend, relationship with her boyfriend, and career confusion…you probably realized that you were an Awkward Black Girl too.

However, Issa had been making buzz around the internet for quite some time dating all the way back to the moment she began her online comedy web series “Awkward Black Girl”. Issa is known for being extremely funny and extremely awkward, hince her self-proclaimed “Awkward Black Girl” title which has worked in her favor in advancing and headlining her career.

Issa is extremely inspiring and inspirational to me because she has made a career out of adding comic relieve to her awkward personality, all while embracing her blackness and encouraging every Black Girl to unapologetically be themselves.

Go purchase and read her book “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” and stay tuned for Season 2 of “Insecure” set to release July 23rd, 2017.

Teyana Taylor

Teyana has got to be the most slept on artist I’ve ever seen. She’s been reduced to being on Tyler Perry’s, Madea’s Big Happy Family as the girl that kept saying “Byrrrroooooon” also known as Bow Wow’s baby mama. She was also known for “Google Me Baby” and her Sweet 16th birthday Party that aired on MTV’s “My Sweet 16”.

Besides that it was “Teyana, who?” until Kanye West’s “Fade” video dropped which featured Teyana Taylor. This video was the moment that Teyana Taylor went from “Who is that?” to “Where has she been?” and “What’s next?”

I fell in love with Teyana’s voice when her debut album VII dropped in 2015 and I loved her even more when I watched her in concert in NYC at SOBs the beginning of 2016. Teyana’s personality is out of this world! The money and fame has not changed her. She still has just the right amount of hood mixed with class. Although she is a married woman (Iman Shumpert – #4 Shooting Guard, Cleveland Cavaliers), and a mother (baby Junie) Teyana is still making Boss moves.

She is an artist on GOOD music (Kanye West label), has a shoe line with Adidas, actress in VH1’s “The Breaks”, and has launched her own workout plan called “Fade to Fit”. If you haven’t heard her music check out VII and her 90’s inspired mixtape The Cassette Tape 1994.

Karen Civil

Karen is the queen of making Boss moves!

She is a social media and digital media marketing strategist. At a young age, she designed fan sites for actors and musicians for national competitions. She interned as a Staff Assistant at Hot 97 with DJ Funkmaster Flex in 2002 and worked with Dipset developing e-commerce for the group. In 2008, she created her own site/blog, karencivil.com and marketing agency, Live Civil, focusing on digital marketing in the hip-hop industry.

But, it wasn’t until 2010 when she began attracting worldwide attention. Karen created and ran Weezythankyou.com, a site where rapper Lil Wayne published letters to his fan while incarcerated. From there she began working with Beats by Dr. Dre as digital marketing manager from 2011-2015.

November 2015, she published her book, Be You & Live Civil: Tools for Unlocking Your Potential & Living Your Purpose.

Karen Civil has branded her name and become a icon in the digital marketing industry. She is a pro at turning small time dreams into the next big thing on the internet. She has become a go-to public speaker for universities, media outlets, and women empowerment conferences.

Karen just became the third and youngest recipient of the key to the city of Elizabeth, NJ (her hometown). Look out for all her upcoming endeavors.

Jasmine Mans

Jasmine Mans is an author, performer, poet, and teacher.

Jasmine Mans is lethal with her words. Her word play is sick and she will send chills down your spine causing you to have goose bumps. Jasmine Mans has used her poetry as a form of activism and she is all about the Black culture. She has called out rappers like Nicki Minaj and Kanye West for not being “cracked up to what [they were] supposed to be”. She’s also wrote poems dedicated to First Lady Michelle Obama and slain Black Boys in America. She has used her words with the purpose of advocating for change and making a difference.

Check her out on YouTube and purchase her poetry book “Chalk Outlines of Snow Angels”.

 

Yara Shahidi

Yara is an actress and model. She began acting at a very young age but she became a well known name on the big screen on the sitcom “Black-ish” as Zoey.

Yara is only 17 but she is very intellectual and active in spreading encouraging and motivating messages to the Black community. She is an activist within her own right dedicated to changing the conversations revolving around racism, sexism, and other political and social issues.

December 2014, she won an NAACP Image Award for “Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy”. In 2016, she signed to model with New York’s Women Management modeling agency. Along with all of her accomplishments and adventures, she has still set education as a top priority. She will be attending Harvard University in the Fall.

Check out her new sitcom, “College-ish”, a “Black-ish” spinoff set to premiere in 2018 on Freeform network.