There is the model in the glittering fuss, there is the God-fearing Church Lady, the early retiree from Cologne, the raping lesbian from the Görlitzer Park. All black women living in Germany. All are played by actress Thelma Buabeng in the comedy series "Tell Me Nothing from the Horse".

"As a black actress in Germany I had to listen to a lot of crap," says Buabeng, "with these characters, I try to deal with it." They represent the cross section of society - exaggerated. " Buabeng, 37, has stood in front of the camera for the "Tatort", for ZDF-Mehrteiler ("The Adlon") and on stage in Frank Castorf's "Faust", which lasted seven hours. But the comedy show about five different women, of which the second season is currently seen, is her own thing:

If Buabeng had shot the first episodes now, the series could be considered the direct answer to #MeTwo. On the debate that was launched by Mesut Özil's racism allegations, she now says: "That a young athlete who scores goal for goal for the German national team, racially insulted and that is doubted - that is a slap in the face for anyone with a migration background, even though I hate that word because it sounds like a disease, "she says, putting her hand on her hip.

She wants to fight back. Maybe that's why she decided to produce this series. To open her mouth - the garish makeover of Vivian, the model, dancer and, of course, lifestyle adviser. Or Gladys, who wears her hair short and folds her hands in prayer. And those of Mary-Jo, Naomi and Annemie. When Buabeng turns from one to the other, she changes the alter egos so effortlessly that one forgets who actually sits in front of the camera. That's why "Tell Me Nothing from the Horse" works so well: The joke is created by Buabeng's comedic talent, by the famously emphasized contrast between the characters.

After the endorphins comes the disillusionment

The daughter of Ghanaian parents grows up in Meckenheim - south of Bonn, more apples and sugar beets than inhabitants. In kindergarten, she is the only black girl, in school too.

Really disturbed, she says, she has racism but only in acting education in Cologne. At that time, they asked lecturers what she wanted on stage, because there are no roles for black actresses. Later in the job, a producer tells her that he just wants a black person in his film so as not to irritate viewers. And one author said, she says, she could not write her a German role, because one must explain to the viewers, as they have made it from the "bush of Africa" ​​to Germany.

"The life I lead is not shown on German television," says Buabeng. Sure, when it comes to escape stories, to colonialism and the red light milieu, then black women can be seen. But otherwise? Buabeng shrugs.

Coda John

Thelma Buabeng: "Listen a lot of crap"

When she receives the offer to play a prosecutor, Buabeng thinks she has interrogated herself. "Does the program mean that?" She asks her agent. She can not believe it matters to her. That she should play the first black prosecutor with a German name in the ZDF film "Am Ruder", no refugees, not with a dramatic family history, she was pleased. So much so that even now in Berlin their hands fly through the air. To stop then and get on your knees like crashed gliders. Because after the endorphins always comes the disillusionment. That you have to be happy about it at all. She rolls her eyes as if to say: Seriously? We have 2018, people!

It bugs when "Biodeutics discuss what racism is, how do you dare to judge it?" She asks, without waiting for an answer, her hand chopping her thigh to the beat of her syllables. She herself experienced how a dentist stroked her skin during treatment, because it was so velvety. Or how a group started out at Berlin's Ostkreuz.

"To whom does the world belong to us all?"

But maybe something is slowly changing, at least in the television industry? Florence Kasumba is soon to be the first black "Tatort" commissioner in Göttingen - after having played in the US action films "The First Avenger: Civil War" and "Black Panther". "Is that the prerequisite for black actresses in Germany?" Says Buabeng. "That I first had to play in a Hollywood blockbuster before I was considered as a 'crime scene commissar' in Germany? If so, then things go wrong." She is of course happy for Kasumba. "But she deserves to have such a significant role years ago." There it is again, the disillusionment. Buabeng's "We have 2018, people!".

On Facebook, Buabeng is posting less and less about her experience of discrimination. She can not stand the comments anymore. She fans the debate on Youtube before suffocating: "Who does the world really belong to?" Mary-Jo asks in "Tell Me Nothing from the Horse" and looks at the camera. Cut. Can we save everyone, can not we, "says Annemie, pushing her glasses on her nose. Cut. Mary-Jo: "Who owns the world, all of us, that's the message." And suddenly Buabeng has not quite disappeared behind her characters. She is completely there.

"Tell Me Nothing from the Horse" on Youtube. There are new episodes every Monday at 6 pm.