We've always thought of Austin, USA as a do-it-yourself town, which is why it makes sense to us that University of Texas senior Ozii Obiyo would take it upon himself to create the first Africa-themed television show for the university's student-run television network, TSTV.
AfroFantastic TV made the jump from radio to television in February 2006 and now enjoys a weekly half-hour time slot on the rough-n-ready lo-fi station. Ozii told us that he's an "avid media consumer," but became fed up with typical representations of Africa in the mainstream media as backward, war-torn, disease-ridden, and starving. Though Nigerian-born Ozii is quick to fess up that those problems still do exist on the continent, he wanted to give equal time to the prosperous, progressive, beautiful, and thriving parts of Africa as well. (We think he should hook up with Charlayne Hunter Gault in this endeavor.)
Ozii's show is co-produced by Christopher Rusch and Donavan Starghil, and aims to tackle the issues of stereotypes and perception in a light-hearted way. We asked him about the future of the show, and he let us know that he's shopping the concept to Africa-focused TV stations nationally. We've even heard that some television stations on the West Coast are showing interest.
