Bree Capel
bic001@marietta.edu
Two Sundays ago, I was scrolling through the popular blogging site Tumblr when I happened upon a post about a brave new web series called “An African City,” which, according to another blogger was “the Sex and the City of Africa.” Being a fan of Sex and the City who had always grieved the program’s noticeable lack of melanin, I was overjoyed and immediately scrambled to Youtube to watch. What followed was 140 minutes of my watching the entire first season (each episode is fairly short).
Maybe that 140 minutes was brought on by an early case of senioritis, or maybe it was a manifestation of my deep need for positive and multifaceted representations of Women of Color. Regardless of what anyone would like to call it, I would like to consider the impressions this show gave me.
Created by Ghanaian writer Nicole Amarteifio, this web series follows the lives of five Afropolitan women in the Ghanaian capitol of Accra, Ghana. To my delight, actresses of African descent play each character.
When I say this show is good, I mean it’s like Kelsey Grammar’s “Girlfriends” but 99 percent less problematic.
Of course this series is entertaining (take character Sade’s struggle to discreetly retrieve her lost vibrator from customs in episode four) but it also offers more than side-eye and giggles. “An African City” serves as a new media source on Ghanaian culture and lifestyles. Moreover, this series offers a point of view that is perhaps more accurate as it is based in personal experience.
Interesting bits that I have learned from watching include that the Ghanaian housing market is booming, that apartments often cost drastically more than many in New York City, and that adding lemon to Coca-Cola is a common practice within restaurants.
Along with Ghanaian specific topics, this series also establishes itself as a starting point for a myriad of important conversations surrounding women, especially Women of Color.
Early in the series the idea of colorism is explored when the women discuss the practice of skin bleaching and the pressure to chemically straighten hair to conform to Eurocentric beauty ideals. Despite the subject matter’s gravity, I was pleased that this discourse was occurring.
Another crucial issue is discussed in episode three, “An Ode to Saturdays.” In this episode, the women explore the disturbing yet common practice of fetishization of black women. Although the theme is unpleasant, Amarteifio finds a way to create dialogue with humor. Law-oriented Makena takes a break from her business to enjoy an afternoon with her new Caucasian boyfriend. In the bathroom she stumbles upon a disturbing collection of pornographic materials, which indicate that her guy has a fetish for Women and Color.
While I could rhapsodize about the series’ significant focus on other topics as sex-positivity, the importance of using condoms, and African and black pride, I’ll leave the details to be revealed upon watching. Each episode is a reasonable 16 minutes or less.
As a closing note, I would like to say that these women are witty, driven, and represent Black women beautifully and that anyone will have more than enough chuckles while watching them.
