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Aaron McGruder (born May 29 , 1974 in Chicago, Illinois ) is an African American Comic Strip author, best known for writing and drawing '' The Boondocks '', a strip dealing with various issues involving African American Culture and American politics. A Chicago native, McGruder moved to Columbia, Maryland as a child. He attended the University Of Maryland , graduating with a degree in African American Studies. ''The Boondocks'' made its debut in the Campus Newspaper , '' The Diamondback '', in late 1997 . He created and worked on the comic while working at the Presentation Graphics Lab on campus. McGruder now lives in Los Angeles , where he is working on projects including a '' Boondocks '' Animated Series . He is also the co-author, with Reginald Hudlin , of a Graphic Novel , ''Birth of a Nation'', drawn by Cartoonist Kyle Baker and published in 2004 , and a frequent public speaker on political and cultural issues. In . CONTROVERSY The content of McGruder's comic strip has often come under fire for being too politically Liberal , and occasionally risque, leading to its being published in the Op-ed section of many Newspaper s. For example, a strip making fun of BET's rap videos which rely on lewd female gyrations and a strip which mocked Whitney Houston 's drug problems have been pulled out of circulation for emphasizing the derriere and marijuana use, even if they were done so in Parody . McGruder has also received hate mail for his unflattering portrayal of white Racism , and garnered significant attention after 9/11 , when he alluded to Ronald Reagan 's support of Osama Bin Laden . He "censored" the strip by featuring a patriotic yellow ribbon and a flag instead of the usual cast. Several of his strips were briefly pulled from prominent publications like the '' Washington Post '', specifically his "Condi needs a man" strip in which Huey and Caesar create a personal ad for Condi Rice, portraying her as a "female Darth Vader type." The ''Post'' also declined to run "Can a Nigga Get a Job?" which had black contestants compete on a Reality TV show to work for Russell Simmons , only to find that all the contestants were rude and lazy. This unflattering portrayal drew the ire of many in the black community. Conservative commentator Larry Elder took exception to one strip in which in Huey and Caesar discuss the "Most Embarrassing Black Person of the Year Awards", and decide to call the award the "Elder". Elder published an opinion piece in which he created "The McGruders" to the same effect, naming liberal commentators and including five quotes from McGruder, to whom Elder awarded his fictional award. Little more has been said on the matter since. At the same time, Mr. McGruder has himself amassed controversy, specifically following his visit with Fidel Castro in Cuba after requested to do so by California Congresswoman Barbara Lee . At the NAACP Image Awards in 2002, it is said that he was approached by then- National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice , who asked if McGruder would include her in his comic strip. McGruder allegedly replied "I don't draw mass murderers", although he did later include her in the strip for May 20 , 2004.
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