HBO’s Insecure celebrated its fifth and final season with Insecure Fest in South Central Los Angeles. The block party and music festival was located right behind Issa Rae‘s Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen Slauson Avenue location.
The back area of the same block was transformed into a local Black-owned marketplace where attendees could enjoy a vast array of products from Black entrepreneurs. From the star’s co-owned hair product line, Sienna Naturals to Watt’s Hawkins House of Burgers, the comfort food shared between guests involved heavy-hitting meals and stomach-filling portions.
Insecure fest featured several businesses near and dear to the Inglewood community. Gorilla Rx Wellness is the Black-woman owned cannabis dispensary was right next to the Sienna Naturals giveaway booth. Leimert Park’s Swift Café was serving Jerk chicken meals with other Caribbean-inspired side dishes.
The South Central marketplace was all a part of HBO’s multicultural event programming to introduce the invited guests to the wider market of Black entrepreneurs in their own communities. Each designated area was justifiably marked with “…Okay?!” This signifier represents the enthusiasm Insecure viewers feel when they watch Issa Rae hype up another close friend on the television screen.
Issa Rae has built a space for Black men and women to feel seen by uplifting her own community and local businesses that have raised her into whom she has become.
All the Black-owned businesses featured are trailblazers in South Central, some are newly opened while others have been distinguishable local meet-up spots for Black consumers for decades.
The 2021 Insecure Fest was the fifth celebration that started with Issa Rae’s earlier block parties to honor each Insecure season premiere. It is her way of constructing a communal space for Black peers, families, and adults to come together to listen to Black music and eat comforting Black soul food.
The majority of the cast of Insecure was in attendance as well as Black musical performers: Duckwrth, Flomilli, Kamaiyah, Schoolboy Q, and Jazmine Sullivan. The Insecure fan base supported Issa Rae’s humanly authentic series and showed out for the community that brought her up, South Central Los Angeles.