I adore the dramedy “Insecure” on HBO. The television series means more to me than just your run-of-the-mill TV pastime. The show validates my Black woman experience in a manner that I have never seen on television in my 36-years of life. Prior to Insecure’s entry into the TV-Universe, I felt disconnected from TV characters. They never had the same flaws and idiosyncrasies that I embodied.

Growing Up As a TV-Sitcom Fanatic

As a child, I was a TV-sitcom fanatic. Saved By The Bell, Clarissa Explains It All, Family Matters, Step By Step, Moesha, Parkers, and Cosby Show were some of my favorites. While I appreciated the characters, I didn’t feel that they truly represented my unique level of awkwardness. I wasn’t as fashion-forward and popular as Lisa Turtle on Saved By The Bell. Clarissa was as smart as me, but she embodied a level of confidence that I could only aspire to be on Clarissa Explains It All. Laura Winslow and Moesha were the ultimate triple-threat characters on Family Matters and Moesha, respectively: smart and popular and assertive. The bonus was that they had boys swooning over them. I was smart, but I was unpopular and rather timid in elementary school. Boys were not checking for me in middle and high school.

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