In April 2002, I had the pleasure of interviewing Aaron McGruder for the cover of Atlanta-based Rolling Out mag. Since the guy doesn’t do a ton of interviews these days, I thought I’d share an oldie but a goodie.
(Hopefully this will encourage him to get out a little more often.)
Because this piece was originally for-hire, I had to follow their editorial standards, which, at the time, were essay format. I pushed for a more traditional Q+A style, but I was overruled by the managing editor. (and what writer doesn’t know that feeling?) Regardless, I had fun with it.
What's great about this is looking back to when Boondocks was still hot, still dangerous, and still just a newspaper strip. (Remember newspapers?) Actually, there's still about 40% of this interview that I'm sworn to secrecy over. Things were said covering topics and people that would get all involved in a lot of trouble, even today. Maybe when i'm really old and just don't care anymore I'll spill it.
So hope you enjoy the read (and the old school references, as there’s quite a few.)
By: Hadji Williams
He grinds sacred cows into humble pie. He’s clowned everyone from G.W.Bush and Condoleeza Rice to P-Diddy and BET to Cuba Gooding, Jr. and The Source… In fact, the list is endless. His strip was censored after 9/11. He hates Hiphop and Kwanzaa. And chances are, he doesn’t care what you think. Meet Aaron McGruder—still the most dangerous brutha in comics.
Before I interviewed Aaron McGruder, creator of The Boondocks, I did some recon on the comic strip game. For most, "comics" still means “Sunday Funnies”— Family Circus, Garfield. Dilbert. Maybe those single-framed Ebony joints come to mind. But over the last few years, comics have changed.
Nowadays, the comic strip game mirrors the hiphop game: Too much diluted product floating in the mainstream. Not enough raw, uncut art from the heart. And as most modern MCs bite Jay-Z, Pac and Nas (sorry BIG— I tried), comics nibble off their own holy trinity: Charles Schultz (Peanuts), Stan Lee (Marvel Comics), and Scott Adams (Dilbert). The resulting landscape is littered with copycat characters and retreaded themes. As for diversity, the funny pages have more talking animals, trolls and monsters than ethnic minorities.
But don’t blame Aaron McGruder for the brain rot. The Boondocks, syndicated by Universal Press, has been inciting angry black children and winning fans since 1997. McGruder, 27, developed The ‘Docks at U of Maryland where he majored in African-American studies. It may be the rawest, most consistently controversial strip since Gary Trudeau’s Doonsebury (in its prime). ‘Docks also had one of the largest launches in strip history and currently burns around 250 publications, plus websites.
Like hiphop, Boondocks brought the block to the ‘burbs. Boondocks follows Huey and Riley Freeman, two pre-teen Chitown brothers who move in with their grandpa in his nearly all-white suburb of Woodcrest. Add friends Caesar— a Brooklyn b-boy transplant, Jazmine— a cute multiracial girl and Hiro—an Asian kid who deejays, and you get a gumbo of social and political commentary, satire and funny-as-hell day-in-the-life rants that many of us think but would never say outloud.
Imagine RZA with a marker. Visually, The ‘Docks has a tight anime vibe—rich colors, sharp lines, and heroic, almost action-figure-esque rhythms. But it’s McGruder’s verbal sword that anchors the strip: The ‘Docks shorties are smart. Honest. Street but not stereotypical. Humane without being Hallmarkish.
But recognize: The ‘Docks didn’t exactly bust doors open for blacks like Halle’s Oscar win (smirk.) Previously there was Ray Billingsley’s Curtis. Robb Armstrong’s Jump Start. Wee Pals by Morrie Turner. Hell, even Peanuts had Franklin— he was one smart black boy. But the mumbling headless adults got more lines than Franklin. Still, in the new reality of 2002, thoro black strips are rarer than bruthas in the Winter Olympics.
Oh yeah, the interview: We spoke one afternoon via telephone. His Freeman’s Chicago roots mirror McGruder’s. Aaron’s from the Southside of Chi and "gets back on occasion, but not too often". Currently residing in LA, McGruder’s confidence is obvious from jump. So's his sense of humor. Within seconds he jokes of deading the interview due to my seemingly unoriginal opening questions. (The joy of press junkets…) But the whirlwind of success has him being questioned more than a black man in a Benz on the Jersey turnpike.
AMG has been mad busy. He recently copped the prestigious Chairman’s Award at the 2002 NAACP Image Awards. He “just wrapped up a deal" (he won’t get too specific) with Crown Books. A new The Boondocks book, should be out by year's end, possibly early '03 at the latest. The first two BD’s—"Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper" and "Fresh For '01...You Suckas" made much noise with critics and did surprisingly well at the registers. He's also working on a show for HBO. Add to that a number of other exciting but-still-confidential Boondocks surprises popping off, and AMG’s about to storm showbiz. Meanwhile, there’s rolling out his daily moneymaker, which McGruder still does the bulk of himself.
As for that long-rumored The Boondocks' cartoon? Well, it's coming. He's working on it with Reginald Hudlin, director of Bebe's Kids and House Party. Not surprisingly, Aaron’s become Riley’s worst nightmare—a workaholic. ("Vacations don't happen for me," he confesses. And sleep is the cousin of death.)
Now with all this shine, you’d think everybody loves Aaron. Well, not quite. Several papers pulled some of Boondocks’ post-9/11 strips after Huey Freeman suggested that past actions of Bush Sr., the CIA and the Reagan Administration were partly to blame for the attacks. Huey also supported Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s questioning of the war declaration. The haterade flowed: Letters came. Chatrooms exploded. But unlike Bill Maher, Aaron didn't actually apologize. Instead he responded with, "The Adventures of Flagge and Ribbon" starring overly patriotic flag and ribbon charicatures. Even the South Park boys thought McGruder was a smartass.
In his now-infamous Thanksgiving Day strip, Huey Freeman prays over dinner: “… We are thankful that OUR leader isn’t the spoiled son of a powerful politician from a wealthy oil family who is supported by religious fundamentalists, operates through clandestine organizations, has no respect for the democratic electoral process, bombs innocents and uses war to deny people their civil liberties… Amen.”
Yeah, I know. Ouch.
With all the rocks coming at the throne, what’s a anime addict to do? Who should Aaron appease? Those hating him for lampooning black icons, entertainers and leaders? Those calling The Boondocks anti-white? The post 9/11 uber-patriots? Or the heads who want The ‘Docks to be so insider-ish nobody else gets it but them? All poison.
Part of The 'Docks' success is Aaron's ability to ignore as many people as possible as often as possible. Aaron dismisses accusations that The Boondocks has gone soft: "...The reality is that the strip can’t just be about race. I mean it could be, but then it would get boring after a while…But that’s part of the problem with the left—no matter what you do, somebody’s always waiting to call you a 'sellout'… The left can be so self-righteous sometimes."
Sometimes he’s shielded from the critics. "When strips get pulled they [UniversalSyndicate] don’t call me." He says it so offhandedly you actually believe he's not only the last to know, but the first to not care. After all, strips get pulled without warning. Shows get canceled. Movies get stickered. CDs get warning-labeled. Singles get edited for radio... Aaron's smart enough to recognize a publication's right to run whatever they choose. It's about advertising dollars and readership numbers. Censorship's a bitch— and bitch betta have my money.
Did I mention McGruder's need to clown anybody and anything at will?
You want some ether? Just peep Huey and Riley Freemans' Most Embarrassing Black Folks award: It started with Condoleeza Rice. She, along with Colin Powell supported America’s skipping the World Conference on Racism. Both publicly criticized the forum. When Rice later received an NAACP Image award, Huey and Riley hit the warpath: Huey sarcastically suggested that Pat Buchanan get an NAACP lifetime achievement award and that Kweisi Mfume and the NAACP had been taken over by pod people. Based on the strip, Aaron, like many of us, is less than enthused with Condi and Colin.
The year’s Most Embarrassing Black Folks winner? Former Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. for Snow Dogs. And while it's too early to speculate, Aaron says the 2002 Most Embarrassing Black Folks Award is chock fulla-contenders, namely R. (girls, girls, girls) Kelly.
The ‘Docks also flexes McGruder's strong satirical chops. He sites Monty Python, Bloom County, and Doonsebury as influences. And he's currently feelin', Stupid White Men— Michael Moore's new book. "It should be required reading for everyone."
But what does Aaron really hate? "Kwanzaa is stupid," he observes. I pointed out that people spend $75 million a year on Kwanzaa. "$75 million dollars?! That’s a movie, that’s not a fuckin’ holiday." Ouch. "Dr. Karenga, why are you making up holidays? Nobody celebrates it right. Stop it!"
The highlight of the convo was McGruder's take on hiphop, a Boonocks’ staple: What can save hiphop? Nothing. "It is what it is. It’s bad… " He cites corporate monopolies. "For an artist, if you try something and it doesn’t work at one company, then [thanks to monopolies] there’s nowhere else to go, because all the outlets are owned by the same handful of companies."
But he doesn’t blame “the system” exclusively. "R&B needs to stop trying to be hiphop... I heard Ashanti the other day, singing over One More Chance [BIG's old track], which was from El DeBarge. And you had Joe, you know, with Stutter —which was from Pharcyde, which was from Bob James… That’s just not good!"
Still, McGruder believes in sampling—with purpose. "There have to be talented hiphop producers who are allowed to sample four or five songs to build and create something new. And then there has to be great musicianship... But right now we don’t have either one really. We’ve got a lot of lazy hiphop producers pounding their Casio keyboards or whatever. Plus a bunch of R&B singers who wanna be rappers. And nobody wants to make good music anymore… And of course, Britney, Emimen and N’Sync are all exactly the same thing."
But just when it seems he's gone all Kamaal on us, Aaron offers this:
"We have to allow an artist to be an artist if we ever hope to create anything worth consuming. That goes for all mediums. And that’s difficult right now for a myriad of reasons; government censorship, economics… And finally, it’s up to the audience… People have to be discriminating in their tastes. I don’t care if it’s a black movie, I won’t go see it if it’s bad!"
When pressed for where Boondock is headed, Aaron offers, “…You can't plan evolution…” My guess is the Freeman will live as long as Aaron wants ‘em to. Plus, given Aaron’s L.A. residence, at some point, he wants to direct, write screenplays and create shows.
Upon his confirmation of this, my gut reaction was, "Yawn, another director." But I quickly flashed back 2 or 3 years when I was told that I just had to read something called, "Boondocks." My gut reaction then? "Yawn, another comic strip."
