Born on January 12, 1985, Issa Rae parents Abdoulaye Diop, and Delyna Diop played significant roles in her life.
Issa Rae, an American actress, producer, director, writer, and web series creator, is most notable for her YouTube series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl”. She is also celebrated for her role as Issa Dee in the HBO TV series “Insecure”.
Her initial breakthrough came with her involvement in the YouTube web series “Awkward Black Girl.” Later on, she expanded her YouTube platform to feature a range of short films, web series, and content crafted by Black individuals.
Among her notable roles in movies and TV series are “The Lovebirds,” “The Photograph,” “Barbie,” “American Fiction,” “The Number,” “BoJack Horseman,” and “Roar,” among others.
Additionally, she provided the voice for Jess Drew / Spider-Woman in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and its upcoming sequel, “Beyond the Spider-Verse.”
Besides this, she has achieved recognition as a writer with her book “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” which became a New York Times best-seller upon its release in 2015.
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Issa Rae Parents & Siblings
Issa Rae was named Jo-Issa Rae Diop by her parents, Abdoulaye Diop and Delyna Diop.
The name Jo-Issa, her birth name, is a blend of her grandmothers’ names, Joyce and Isseu. Additionally, her middle name, Rae, pays tribute to an aunt who was an artist.
Professionally, her father, Abdoulaye Diop, practices as a pediatrician and neonatologist with roots in Senegal, while her mother, Delyna Marie Diop (formerly Hayward), pursues a career as a language instructor specializing in French and Spanish, with ties to Louisiana.
Her father manages a medical practice in Inglewood, California, and holds the role of medical director at AFC Medical Group. Moreover, during Issa’s upbringing, Abdoulaye’s aspirations for her included becoming a lawyer or doctor.
Abdoulaye encountered his future wife, Delyna, during their studies at the French Naval School of Medicine at the University of Bordeaux. Together, they welcomed five children into the world, including Issa.
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, she spent much of her upbringing in Potomac, Maryland, alongside her four siblings.
As the eldest of five siblings, Amadou Diop resides in Smyrna, GA, and serves as a delivery team lead at Ventiv Technology. Little information is available about her other elder brother, Malick Diop.
Another brother, Lamine Diop, is a renowned musician known by the stage name Enimal, while her sister, Elize Diop, is an entrepreneur who developed the Black Blocks card game to transform conversations about race in the United States.
During her childhood, the family lived in Dakar, Senegal. Raised in the Catholic tradition, Rae’s upbringing involved diverse activities such as being part of a swim team, playing street hockey, and joining Passovers with her Jewish best friends.
During Rae’s sixth-grade year, her family relocated to the affluent View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles, where she enrolled in a predominantly black middle school.
While enrolled at King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, Issa Rae’s parents decided to divorce.
In 2007, Rae completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in African and African-American Studies.
Rae credits her mom as the most influential person in her life, attributing to her the role of bolstering her self-esteem.
Issa Rae Husband: Who Is She Currently Married To?
Actress Issa Rae exchanged vows with her husband, Louis Diame, in the picturesque South of France on July 25, 2021. Issa shared their nuptials on Instagram. Issa’s better half, Louis, is reportedly a businessman from Senegal.
When her cover photo for Essence magazine revealed her wearing an engagement ring in March 2019, it sparked congratulations from her friends and co-workers on the engagement.
During an interview conducted in September 2021, Rae reiterated the importance of maintaining privacy in her personal life, saying:
There’s something really nice to have a piece of me that no one knows about or no one can talk about except for the people that are part of my life. Self-care has been having a private piece that’s just for me.
Diame has accompanied Rae to several red-carpet events throughout the years, such as the 2016 Insecure premiere and the 2017 Essence Black Women In Hollywood Awards, where Rae received the Vanguard Award.
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