The program wears its influences and messaging on its sleeve - so the pressure that comes from Nella realizing she works in an office which values symbolic diversity over actual progress is rendered with ominous music and horror movie tropes. Hulu's The Other Black Girl is based on a book by Zakiya Dalila Harris, who also co-wrote some episodes, serves as an executive producer and is sister to our own Pop Culture Happy Hour host Aisha Harris (who had no input on NPR's decision to cover the show). "I'm excited to read it again with a specific eye on her."Īs the saying goes, all skinfolk ain't kinfolk. "I think Shartricia has potential," says Hazel, given a sneaky, yet sophisticated charm by Ashleigh Murray. In Nella's case, she thinks a true ally has arrived when the company hires Hazel, a new editorial assistant who talks earnestly about growing up in Harlem and her graduation from the historically Black college Howard University.īut when Nella decides to confront a problematic white author about a character in his new novel named Shartricia – the book's only Black character, who has a child by a man she doesn't know and zero friends who aren't struggling with substance abuse issues – Hazel does not have her work sister's back. HULU Sinclair Daniel as Nella, Ashleigh Murray as Hazel on Hulu's The Other Black Girl. And how those spaces can pit Black folks - indeed, all marginalized people - against one another, often when they need each other most. Both shows talk about race, class, gender, upward mobility and lots of other issues in compelling ways.īut what stuck with me was how each show speaks incisively – and asks solid questions - about what it means to be a Black person moving through a mostly white world, especially in work/office spaces. This is the delicious anxiety explored by The Other Black Girl and another Black-centered series which dropped on Showtime earlier this week, the British comedy Dreaming Whilst Black. Instead, they see some image of her shaped by their own presumptions – someone who can help fulfill their desire to feel socially progressive and impactful, regardless of what Nella actually needs or wants. One look at Nella's face shows what's really resonating: another disappointing encounter with tokenism in her workplace with someone who doesn't actually see her. HULU Sinclair Daniel as Nella on Hulu's The Other Black Girl.
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