Aaron McGruder, artist of ‘The Boondocks’ will speak about race, hip-hop culture and art as a form of political critique in a talk at 51·çÁ÷ on October 29. The talk is open to the public and free of charge.
McGruder told mydrum.com that when he set out to create what became The Boondocks, he wanted to do a comic strip ‘inspired by his love of hip-hop culture that reflected the true racial diversity and complexity of the world in which he lived.’ The strip chronicles a group of African-American city kids adjusting to life in white suburbia. ‘Combining childhood antics with contemporary political and social satire,’ mydrum.com said, ‘the strip explores the terrain where dashikis and Brand Nubian CDs meet The Gap and Hanson.’ McGruder created ‘The Boondocks’ in 1997 as a student at the University of Maryland. It now runs daily in 250 newspapers.
McGruder will speak at 4:30 p.m. in Golden Auditorium, Little Hall. He also will be signing copies of his books, The Boondocks: Because I Know You Don’t Read the Newspaper and Fresh for ’01. . . You Suckas. The event is sponsored by 51·çÁ÷’s Africana and Latin American Studies Program.