Aaron McGruder is an American writer and cartoonist best known for writing and drawing The Boondocks, a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip about two young African-American brothers, Huey and Riley, from inner-city Chicago now living with their grandfather in a sedate suburb, as well as being the creator, executive producer, and head writer of The Boondocks animated TV series based on his strip.
Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1974, Aaron and his parents soon moved from their largely Black neighborhood to mostly-white Columbia, Maryland when Aaron was about to start school. Spending the majority of his life there, young Aaron got a first-hand education on race relations; often feeling like an outsider.
After graduating high school, McGruder enrolled in the University of Maryland, College Park. After fellow UM student Frank Cho (author of the cult comic “Liberty Meadows”) graduated in the mid-90s, the school newspaper, The Diamondback, was left without a leading comic strip. The paper’s lead editor, Jayson Blair (who would later court controversy at The New York Times), doubted that anything would grab as much attention as Cho’s work.
Aaron gladly volunteered for the job, creating a strip that would combine elements of his own life with an all-around “Hip-Hop perspective” of world events as told through the eyes of young Black children wise beyond their years. With that, “The Boondocks” premiered in The Diamondback and became an instant hit, introducing UM students to Huey Freeman, an afro-sporting, self-appointed revolutionary (named after Huey P. Newton); Riley Freeman, Huey’s unapologetic “gangsta”-wannabe younger brother; and Jazmine DuBois, a bi-racial girl with little more control over her racial identity than her own fussy hair.
The strip made its national premiere April of 1999 with the largest debut for a new comic in a record 160 papers nation-wide. The strip, however, immediately caused controversy. Everything from the characters (anime-influenced) designs to the handling of the bi-racial Jazmine seemed to stir the ire of someone no matter where the strip was published. Some Blacks claimed it was stereotypical and derogatory; many whites claimed it was outright racist, hurtful and divisive.
Among his most out-spoken critics are: Black conservative radio talk-host Larry Elder, who said that a cry-baby award should be created for Black celebs called “The McGruder” (“The Boondocks” responded with its characters holding “The Most-Embarrassing Black People” Awards a.k.a “The Larry Elder”); Robert L. Johnson, founder of the B.E.T-Black Entertainment Television network (known for its racy music videos, the characters of the strip refer to the network as “Black Exploitation Television” or “Butts Every Time”); and conservative Black columnist Ward Connerly (who the character Huey once said should be beaten with a spiked bat).
In late 2001/early 2002, the strip found itself with more controversy than usual when, after the attacks of 9/11, McGruder swayed away from mainstream opinions of the country and had his characters criticise every thing from the mainstream media’s cheerleader-like support of war and Bush to the false patriotism of flag-wavers in light of the attacks. The strip was pulled from several major papers (particularly in New York).
In March 2014, The Boondocks was revived for a new season, the first episode of which aired on April 21, 2014, but without McGruder’s involvement as the show’s creator and showrunner.
McGruder was also a screenwriter on Red Tails, and co-author, with Reginald Hudlin, of a 2004 graphic novel, Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel, drawn by cartoonist Kyle Baker. Other projects include variety comedy series The Super Rumble Mix Show and Black Jesus, the latter on Adult Swim.