Move over, Garry Trudeau

The Nation’s John Nichols reports that 27-year-old cartoonist Aaron McGruder’s Huey Freeman (of The Boondocks) has been offering "the most effective dissent from patriotism that dare not speak its mind" (The Nation, January 28, 2002). Nichols cites Freeman’s pre-turkey prayer this past Thanksgivng: "Ahem. In this time of war against Osama bin Laden and the oppressive Taliban regime, 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."

In an interview with Nichols, McGruder reflected on his decision to put political commentary into the mouths of his cartoon characters.

"I was shocked by what happened [on September 11th]," McGruder said. "But I was also shocked by the simplistic nature of a lot of the commentary – this whole ‘good’ versus ‘evil’ analysis that sounded like something from fifth grade."

The cartoonist added: "The Boondocks is not an alternative weekly strip. This is not a website strip. This is in the Washington Post. It just seemed like nobody else was going to say the things that needed to be said in the places where I had an opportunity to raise questions about the war – in newspapers that millions of people read every day."

– Julie A. Wortman