Issa Rae talks including women of color in the Time's Up conversation

Issa Rae has created many complicated, layered, and empowered black female characters for her hit HBO comedy Insecure, but the actress — who will next be seen in the highly-anticipated YA adaptation of The Hate U Give, a film about police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement — wants to make people aware of the influence black women have had on the Time’s Up campaign.

Rae and The Hate U Give author Angie Thomas dropped by the PEOPLE/EW studio at the Toronto International Film Festival, where they discussed the power of Time’s Up, the place for black women within it, and the importance of highlighting similar issues specific to women of color.

“I feel like Time’s Up has really helped to give women sort of power, it feels very much like this is our now,” Rae said. “At the same time, this is something that people of color and black people specifically have been rallying for for such a very long time. I think if anything, Time’s Up has helped to shine a spotlight on those movements in addition to the women’s movement as a whole.”

Rae finds the conversations being sparked encouraging.

“It’s prompted a lot of discussions about where else Hollywood is falling short, where else the workforce is falling short,” she continued. “That’s always great. As long as people are talking about the issues and how we can do better, that’s always great.”

While Rae stands firmly behind these movements, she does not want minority voices to fall through the cracks. Especially with #MeToo, a campaign started by black activist Tarana Burke in 2007, only gaining mainstream popularity after the Harvey Weinstein allegations came to light.

“There’s still such a long way to go,” admits Rae. “Even within #MeToo, what are black women going through? What are Latina women going through? As long as we’re committed to making sure that everyone is equal, it’s always great.”

The Hate U Give opens in theaters on Oct. 19.