Issa Rae’s shining moment has been years in the making, with the actress putting her stamp on Hollywood with the premiere of her hit HBO series Insecure in 2016. Since launching her web series in 2011, The Mis-adventures Of Awkward Black Girl, she’s proven that she’s here to stay, becoming a crowd favorite across social media, thanks largely in part to her on-screen effervescence and her off-screen candor.

Issa’s continued to take the world by storm, earning two Golden Globe Award nominations in 2017 and 2018, respectively. It is for this consistent image of Black excellence that we honor Issa Rae in our annual Black History Month celebration, “The Great 28.”