Birth Name: Jo-Issa Rae Diop
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: January 12, 1985
Ethnicity:
*Senegalese (father)
*African-American (mother)
Issa Rae is an American actress, writer, director, and producer. She is known as the creator of web series Awkward Black Girl.
Issa is the daughter of Delyna (Hayward) and Abdoulaye Diop. Issa’s father is from Senegal. Issa’s mother is American, from Louisiana, and is African-American. Issa was raised in California, Maryland, and Dakar, Senegal.
Her name, Jo-Issa, is a combination of her grandmothers’ names, Joyce and Isseu.
Issa’s maternal grandparents were Ralph Hayward and Joyce.
Sources: http://www.theguardian.com
Birth record of Issa Rae – http://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Issa’s aunt (mother’s sister), Rae Louise Hayward – http://www.findagrave.com
Photo by kathclick/www.bigstockphoto.com/