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Issa Rae Says It's All Men's Fault!
Giving her acceptance speech at Variety’s L.A. Power of Women event, Issa Rae had a culprit in mind for the current state of… well, almost everything.
Swipe to listen.
“This is all men’s fault. Rich, white men to be specific,” Rae joked, after reflecting on everything from an entertainment industry seemingly eating itself to politics, climate disasters and the rise of AI.
“It is hard to feel like a powerful woman when men keep fucking everything up,” she added.
Rae was accepting the Entertainment Entrepreneur of the Year Award, but beneath the humour was a much more vulnerable reflection on what power actually means when the world around you can leave you feeling anything but powerful.
“It’s hard to feel inspired when you feel helpless and useless,” she admitted.
Her answer has been to concentrate on the power she does have: choosing who she surrounds herself with, who she works with, champions and invests in, and whose stories she chooses to tell and platform.
For Rae, success also has to extend beyond the individual. She spoke about pouring her influence back into her community and making sure whatever success comes her way “doesn’t stop with me.”
And perhaps that was the real message of the speech. We may not have the power to fix everything happening around us, but we can decide what we do with the power we have.
As Rae put it: "Maybe that’s all any of us can do - is just figure out where we have some power and use it the fuck for good, please.”
A very Issa Rae acceptance speech: funny, frustrated, candid - and ultimately a call to make whatever influence you have count
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