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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2011)
-afic24_________________ Minority & Small Business Week___________ September 21, 2011 Arts x A ENTERTAINMENT Today’s Little Scholars Childcare Today’s Little Scholars Childcare is located near Portland Community College on Killingsworth and Albina street offering Flexible Scheduling. Are you looking for reliable and safe childcare? If so, I ’m a certified provider giving today’s Little Scholars a wonderful and loving environ ment to enjoy being themselves. Allow me to take care o f your children the right way... Contact us today! 1-800-385-8594 DHS State Assistance Accepted 24 Hours Childcare Provider http://www.todayslittlescholarschildcare.com Gerding Theater at the Arm ory 503.445.3700 pcs.org 128 N W Eleventh Avenue "Things are changing. The country is changing. Gotta Change with it.” -Curly © ----- T im & M ary B oyle KSB n w jtigi m i ( iiM iiii la tin ii suits H .I.n iJ .r r y SUrn «asss ill I TTbank «i»*. Nelson <£Iw (fltriKinun ft Madeline Jim Laflty kidç Helen ft Jerry Stern Advertise with diversity in 1! I\ 'rtland Observer Cull 503-288-0033 ads@portlandob s e rv e r.c o m 4 Mis-Ad ventures’ Show a Hit on YouTube Series was created to break black stereotypes (AP) — A fter growing tired o f watching stereotypes of people o f color on the screen, Issa Rae created her own vision of reality with "The M is-A dventures of Awkward Black Girl." The W eb-based show follows J, played by Rae, and her mishaps and successes in work and love. "The Web series cam e about because I really didn't see anybody like me on the screen, nobody that I could relate to," said Rae, the show's producer, w riter and director. "There's are ju st so many lim ited archetypes for black fem ales in particular, and ju st people of color in general, and it's frustrating to look at the screen and only be able to relate to people like Tina Fey or Amy Poehler, people who don't look like me." Since the series first posted online in February, the debut episode has garnered more than 240,000 hits. Subsequent episodes have received more than 100,000 hits and 1,000 view er com m ents. Nearly 17,000 people are dedicated to the show ’s Facebook page. Rae said she and co-producer Tracy O liver are pack aging "Awkward Black Girl" as a half-hour comedy to sell to a cable network, but are strongly thinking about keeping it online to build the audience and maintain stronger contact with viewers. "Social m edia is what made the show honestly," Rae said. "Had it not been for social media, this show just w ouldn’t have been what it is today. I couldn't have done this 10 years ago." Susan Fales-Hill, who produced and wrote for the long-running NBC sitcom "A Different W orld," called Rae's work fresh, incisive, and non-stereotypical. "She is showing an educated, African-Am erican woman leading an integrated life and a professional woman with friends o f many different nationalities and backgrounds, and just trying to make her way," Fales- Hill said. She said Rae's guerrilla approach to TV making is brilliant and an inspiration to veterans in the industry like her. Rae, 26, born Jo-Issa Rae Diop, created the concept for the show two years ago while on a public theater fellow ship in New York. A Los Angeles native, she didn't know anyone in New York, and that provided Producer, director and writer Issa Rae, creator o f the YouTube series "The Misad ventures o f Awkward Black Girl," poses for a photo at her home in Los Angeles. many awkward experiences. After returning to the W est Coast, Rae gathered a few friends to help her begin shooting the series with her own cam era equipm ent in January. "I knew if I didn't shoot it m yself it was never going to get done," said Rae, who attended Stanford U niversity and the New York Film Academ y in Los Angeles. Rae recruited her friend Andrew Allan James to star as A, her annoying co-worker and admirer. The diverse cast now includes J's best friend CeCe, an Indian-American, played by Sujata Day, and her love interests White J, played by Lyman Johnson, and Fred, an African-American, played by Madison T. Shockley III. "Diversity is im portant to the series just because it exists in my life," Rae said. "In real life, I do happen to have a Bengali-A m erican best friend." Since "Awkward Black Girl" launched, Rae has signed with United Talent Agency and 3 Arts E ntertainm ent. She hopes her suc "We carry your heart in our hands, with compassion and care" cess will lead to more opportunities for mi norities to tell their stories. "I think it sends a m e ssa g e to m a in stream media that we don't have to have these white male and "Ask fo r M argret Neal" female leads for ev funeral Direcfor/Owner erybody to relate to them," Rae said. "It's sort o f unfair to think that, so I hope that this show influences future casting deci sions just based off what we've been able IhR n W t n ir d b , Ih r Orrgon U M r M o rlu irt • f r m r lj c t (m rd r lln lm - ()**• April » to do so far. " ate Heart Funeral Hom e 1093 SW Tobias Way Aloha, Oregon 97006 (503) 642-4620 A llO t r r l« a l« n « M O 7 ww w.nealscom pa ssionatehea rt f u neralho me.com
