Bringing Afrocentricity to the Funnies: An Analysis of Afrocentricity Within Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks

Abstract

Cartoonist Aaron McGruder entered the syndicated comic strip arena in 1998. As an African American, McGruder’s social commentary, political criticism, and jokes have a perspective on America unlike White syndicated cartoonists. Yet one cannot assume that his comic strip is Afrocentric simply because McGruder is African American. The authors of this work attempt to determine if McGruder—through his characters—speaks from an Afrocentric perspective. More specifically, the authors analyzed McGruder’s comic strips to determine if the principles and concepts of Afrocentricity, including the 10 principles of nommo, were present within the comic strip. It was determined through The Boondocks , he speaks of resistance, liberation, peace, harmony, and does so in the “language” of African Americans—Ebonics. He places African Americans at the center of his discourse and gauges the external world through the lens of his young African American characters.