On Sunday night, during the second season premiere of Insecure on HBO, we watched 30 hilarious minutes in the life of a deeply melanated, kinky-haired, black woman named Issa. We did not watch her blackness played out as some sort of gimmick. Instead, we watched her in agonize over a bad breakup, have a bad day at work, be petty despite her better judgment, and have an awkward and confusing run-in with her ex.

We watched her, in other words, be a regular, flawed, human being.