Afro-Latina writer and animator Ehcrama Marche might not have a huge following on social media, but the bilingual animated comedy series she’s created on her YouTube channel, Hella Black Mexican, is worthy of a network’s attention.
The 16 episodes of the “cartoon telenovela” that Marche has posted on her channel so far feature a little girl talking and rapping about her experience growing up Afro-Latina. Marche, who is half-Mexican and half-Dominican, writes, edits, animates and voices each episode.
Episode 1, which premiered one year ago last week, begins with Marche’s birth in 1998. The episode continues with Marche playing in a sandbox with two other Black babies. They start crying when they believe a “white lady” (Marche’s Latina mother) steals her out of the sandbox.
In Episode 2, Marche reveals what it was like in elementary school when her class would stare at her during a lesson about Martin Luther King Jr.
In a more recent episode, her mom explains why her full name, Ehcrama Marche, is so special. It’s a palindrome.
During one of her videos where she speaks to viewers as herself, Marche tells the story of when her powderpuff football team picked her to run the ball just because she is Black.
“I didn’t have to try out because they automatically made me their running back,” she said. “I don’t run fast. I’m not athletic. It was the first play, and they kick the ball, and I grabbed [it] and I don’t remember anything after that. I got knocked out.”
To see all of Marche’s Hella Black Mexican episodes, visit her YouTube channel.
