Aaron McGruder

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox writer Aaron Vincent McGruder<ref name=encyc>Template:Cite web</ref> (born May 29, 1974)<ref name=CAO>Template:Cite web</ref> is an American writer, cartoonist, and producer best known for creating The Boondocks, a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip<ref name=tease>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= Astor /> and its animated TV series adaptation.

Early life and education

Aaron McGruder was born in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name=CAO /> When Aaron was six years old, his family moved to Columbia, Maryland, after his father accepted a job with the National Transportation Safety Board. McGruder has an older brother.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

McGruder attended the Jesuit school Loyola Blakefield from grades seven to nine. After two years he left the school and transferred to the public Oakland Mills High School. At the University of Maryland, he graduated with a degree in African American Studies.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Career

The Boondocks and related work

The Boondocks began in 1996 as a webcomic on Hitlist.com, one of the first online music websites.<ref name="uclick">Template:Cite web</ref> At the time, he was a DJ on The Soul Controllers Mix Show on WMUC. The Boondocks briefly appeared as a comic strip in the University of Maryland's newspaper The Diamondback, during Jayson Blair's tenure as editor-in-chief.<ref name="uclick"/><ref name="radical"/> McGruder signed a deal with the Universal Press Syndicate and in April 1999, the strip began appearing in 160 newspapers.<ref name="radical"/>

The comic strip's main characters are two young African-American brothers, Huey, named after Huey P. Newton, and his younger brother and wannabe gangsta, Riley,<ref name=tease/> from inner-city Chicago, who are relocated to live with their grandfather in a sedate suburb. In six months, the comic strip was being distributed to more than 200 publications.<ref name=Astor>Template:Cite news</ref> Five collections of The Boondocks have been published: All The Rage, Public Enemy #2, A Right To Be Hostile, Fresh for '01: You Suckaz, and Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper. An animated television series adaptation of the strip was successful on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

In 2013, McGruder expressed interest in filming a movie featuring The Boondocks TV series supporting character Uncle Ruckus. Gary Anthony Williams would reprise his role. McGruder set a goal of $200,000 for startup donations at uncleruckusmovie.com between January 30 to March 1, 2013, but the campaign ended with 2,667 backers and $129,963.<ref name=kickstarter>"The Uncle Ruckus Movie by Aaron McGruder." Kickstarter.com.</ref>

In March 2014, The Boondocks was revived for a new season, but without McGruder's involvement as its showrunner.<ref name= final>Template:Cite news</ref> The first episode of the fourth season was first broadcast on April 21, 2014.<ref name=4th>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, it was announced that a fifth season of The Boondocks would be produced with McGruder's involvement. The project was cancelled in February 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other work

Among his other projects have been the Super Deluxe variety comedy series The Super Rumble Mix Show. McGruder also developed Black Jesus, another comedy series broadcast on Adult Swim, part of Cartoon Network.<ref name= final />

McGruder has developed into a public speaker on political and cultural issues. McGruder said in a 2002 keynote address<ref name=H2K2_speakers>Template:Cite web</ref> at the July 12–14, 2002 H2K2 conference that he believed that President George W. Bush was involved with the September 11 attacks: Template:Cquote During a 2003 reception hosted by The Nation, McGruder offended attendees by defiantly expressing his support for Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential bid. McGruder endured heckling and walkouts as he defended his commitment to left-wing causes, including, he claimed, calling Condoleezza Rice a "mass-murderer" to her face during the 2002 NAACP Image Awards.<ref name=radical>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2009, Richmond, Indiana newspaper Palladium-Item reported that McGruder told a Martin Luther King Day audience at local Earlham College that then-President-elect Barack Obama was "not black".<ref name=obama_comments>Template:Cite web</ref> McGruder released a statement insisting he was misquoted, while maintaining he remained "cautiously pessimistic" about Obama's presidency.<ref name=obama_comments />

In 2004, with Reginald Hudlin, McGruder co-authored a graphic novel, Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel, about African Americans in East St. Louis during an election.<ref name= encyc /> The book's illustrations were drawn by cartoonist Kyle Baker.

In 2005, in celebration of Black History Month, McGruder was invited to provide a lecture at the Miami University of Ohio.<ref>"Celebrating Black History: A Look at How Selected Colleges and Universities Celebrate Black History Month." Black Issues in Higher Education, vol. 21, no. 26, 10 February 2005, p. 33.</ref><ref>Feller, Susan B. "'The Boondocks' Cartoonist to Speak at VA Tech During Black History Month." 3 February 2003. Archived from the original.</ref>

In 2010, McGruder worked as screenwriter in the final treatment of the feature film Red Tails, released in early 2012. Its story is based on the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American combat pilots during World War II.<ref name=moviefone>Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2017, it was announced that McGruder, along with producer Will Packer, would develop a series for Amazon Video called Black America, set in an alternative history wherein emancipated black Americans receive three Southern states as reparations for slavery and form an independent nation.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series' announcement was seen by some commentators as a response to HBO's then in-development alternative history series Confederate, whose plot entails a history wherein the Confederacy won the American Civil War; that series was ultimately never developed, with its cancellation confirmed in January 2020. Packer denied the project was a response to Confederate and was already in development when that series was announced.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Template:As of, Amazon has released no further updates regarding Black America and its current status is unknown.

Personal life

By 2005<ref name= AVclub_interview>Template:Cite web</ref> and Template:As of, McGruder was residing in Los Angeles.<ref name= encyc /><ref name= AVclub_interview />

Publications

Books

• The Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read the Newspapers (2000)
• Fresh for '01... You Suckas! (2001)
• A Right to be Hostile: The Boondocks Treasury (2003)
• Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel, with Reginald Hudlin. Illustrated by Kyle Baker (2004)
• Public Enemy #2: An All-New Boondocks Collection (2005)
• All the Rage: Boondocks Past and Present (2007)

Book Contributions

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Further reading

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External links

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