Issa Rae covers the October issue of Glamour, and the cover shoot was done by photographer Petra Collins, who is something of a protege of Terry Richardson. That’s why the photos look so weird, like they’re screencaps from a 1970s TV show. While the photos suck – #IssaDeservesBetter – the actual cover profile is awesome. When HBO’s Insecure first became a hit, I think Issa took about a year, year-and-a-half to really get comfortable with her new level of fame. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing, which meant that her interviews were usually a bit boring and uncontroversial. This Glamour piece though… I can already see a few quotes which will piss off a lot of (white) people. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

Her truth: “All I know is who I am. At the end of the day, all I know is my intentions, and no matter what you take out of context, no matter what pictures you post, I know that I am aligned with. I know what my truth is.”

She’s making a black show for a black audience: “You can always tell when [a black show] feels overly explained. If you’re targeting a specific audience, there’s a shorthand people of color have, where you don’t need to explain it. If a story line is funny to me, if it’s real to me, if it moves me, then it’s my thing. It’s my experience, so no one can take that away from me. I could never do this show and have a predominantly white staff. Sometimes the white writers will be like, ‘I didn’t even know what that line meant until I watched the show,’ and I’m like, ‘That’s OK. There are some things that are just for us.’”

On Michelle Obama being a fan of the show: “I was like, ‘You really watch it?’ She was like, “Yes. Sasha and Malia put me on to it.’” Rae, like many, misses the Obama administration. “It bums me out that I will never have that feeling again of the First Family f–king with us so hard and getting us. If Melania said that to me, I would be like, ‘Well, I guess it’s canceled. We’re not making this show. It’s not ours anymore.’”

The gentrification of South L.A.: “White people left the neighborhood, there was white flight, and now they’re coming back and pushing us out. I’m moving back there— that’s what I want— but I’ve already seen the change. It’s disheartening.”

[From Glamour]

I enjoy the fact that HBO has given her creative control to do a show about black people FOR black people. I love that she’s not explaining stuff within the show – if people get it, that’s awesome, and if they don’t, that’s fine too because it’s not for them. White people have had shows made for them and by them since the start of television. I laughed at this too: “If Melania said that to me, I would be like, ‘Well, I guess it’s canceled. We’re not making this show.” LOL. As if Melania would watch Insecure. *Melania flips the channel to CNN just to see Trump’s head explode*

Photos courtesy of Petra Collins for Glamour, sent from promotional Glamour email.