I heard about the web series Growing up African some time last year and watched an episode, but forgot to follow it up. I started watching it again recently. I had such high hopes, anticipating a mirror reflection of my own friends and family and the shared experiences we’ve had. To be honest I was a tad disappointed, but I still applaud the show for its concept. We need to see more initiatives like this. Yes reality TV may not always be the most educative source of televised entertainment but there is something we as humans take joy in when watching film: discovering we share similar experiences with those we watch. I remember moving from London as a seven year old to Australia, I was absolutely floored by the lack of black on my TV screen. I yearned and pined for the UK everyday because I didn’t see black in school and I didn’t see it on TV either. Growing up in London as a child of Ghanaian descent life seemed typical as there was a huge African and overall black population, and TV only served to reiterate this normality. All the children’s shows had black boys and girls that resembled my classmates and my self. There was a constant influx of black images, television identified with me on a daily basis. Migrating to Australia as a seven year old naturally attached to the television screen, Australian programming served to me as a rude awakening to my surroundings. The streets were not as colourful as that on which my Clapton apartment was situated, nor was my television screen. With no other family, and desperate for connection in a new and unfamiliar world television reiterated one thing I saw all around me: the lack of black. Then sometime after 2000 the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air set foot on the channel nine podium and took centre stage on my family television. I did not need to know the community in which I had found a common affection for Will Smith and the entire Banks family. My desire for television to dispel alienation in a foreign land and once again make my identity a familiar one had been met. Some of school friends watched the Fresh Prince and I could discuss with them the hilarity of the episodes at times, but for me sense of community came by knowing there were people out there just like my family and I, actually being represented on my Australian television screen.
One of my all time favourite episodes is “Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse.” Unfortunately I wasn’t able to embed the video, but you can watch the full episode here.
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