The 37-year-old Emmy Award nominee, who has mostly featured the city and surrounding areas on 'Insecure', receives the honor at the Taste of Inglewood festival.
- Feb 14, 2022
AceShowbiz - Issa Rae has become the first person to receive a key to the city of Inglewood in 114 years. Grateful for the recognition, the "Insecure" star and co-creator revealed that she got a "little emotional" to accept the prestigious honor.
The 37-year-old received the key at the Taste of Inglewood festival on Saturday, February 12. Presenting the key was Mayor James T. Butts Jr., who praised the actress for her "outstanding contributions to our culture," while calling her "the queen of Inglewood."
Issa then said during her acceptance speech, "I'm a little emotional." She added, "I'm trying to be a thug right now. The mayor really kind of flabbergasted me in that this is the first key in 114 years, so that's a huge honor."
"I just want to thank you all so much for your support," the Emmy Award nominee further gushed. "Thank you to the mayor, thank you to the city of Inglewood for making it so easy for us to film here, for helping us showcase this city that I love that so much."
"I have to give love to my grandparents who have lived here, who have lived in Briarwood for a long time and who established my first point of view of Inglewood and love the city themselves; my mom and my sister who live here actively," she continued.
"The Lovebirds" actress went on to give shout-outs to her "collaborators and my company members at Hoorae who have come out here to support me." She then noted, "But I'm truly honored to receive this. I will always put on for my city. Inglewood, South L.A., stand up."
Issa has previously opened up about her passion for helping Black businesses succeed in her community. "I feel like if we're not going to do it ourselves, nobody else will," she said when speaking to PEOPLE. "No one else puts the care that we do into us."
