Jun 25, J. Be the noondocks to ask a question about A Right to Be Hostile. I would definitely hand this to the kid who is developing a critical consciousness, and some strips are perfect for sta Many of the cultural and political references are now dated, so it freasury take a lot for a teen today to access most of these strips. Three Rivers Press- Humor — pages. I thoroughly enjoy the Boondocks.
Jan 31, Chul rated it really liked it. With The Boondockshe sets out to make barbecue of the sacred cows of race, class, politics, identity and even the pretensions of self-styled lone voices in the wilderness like himself. Oct 22, Will rated it really liked it Shelves: Containing the earliest Boondocks comics, this volume is the longest of the three, the others being Trasury Enemy 2 and All the Rage.
I miss the great newspaper comics. What I like about this book is that while hhe is deep and sometimes dark it can still make you laugh, which was the difference between me giving it five stars instead of four.
Newton and his younger brother Riley, a young want-to-be gangsta, the strip explores issues involving Aaron McGruder is an American cartoonist best known for writing and drawing The Boondocks, a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip about two young African American brothers from inner-city Chicago now living with their grandfather in a sedate suburb. Always hilarious and deeply relevant. They made me reconsider the perceptions I have of how race plays into every aspect of American society and especially the danger of taking related images in the media for granted.
Enter Aaron McGruder who is neither white, interested in not giving offense, nor toothless. Huey Freeman is my soulmate. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website.
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This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The young Black male may feel as though he is rejecting or losing his culture by conforming and excelling in the White-dominated educational structure.
At the same time resisting the White- dominated educational structure relegates the young Black male to the streets. Race, Gender and The Boondocks Rationale Cool pose has yet to be examined against the backdrop of a Black comic strip.
Thus, this study seeks to expound upon two key aspect of cool pose — Playing the Dozens and The Search for Pride and Manhood. Major and Billson suggest that as long as discrimination continues to be prevalent, the Black male will enact cool behaviors, thus an analysis of a contemporary comic strip will illuminate the manifestation or lack of cool behaviors.
No notable studies have applied this concept of Black masculinity to the medium of comics. The Boondocks comic strip is fitting for an examination of masculinity that can be interpreted as cool because it is the site of cultural collision as young African American inner city boys adapt to life in a predominantly White suburb of Chicago.
The content of the strip raises complex questions about assimilation, male-female dynamics, accommodation and race relations in American society, which consequently makes cool pose fitting as a concept of application. This research does not attempt to generalize beyond the selected artifact; however the researcher chose the selected artifact because of the diversity and contemporary nature of the content.
In addition, the artifact addresses many social and political issues within not only the African American community, but American society at large. All the comic strips found in Public Enemy 2 previously appeared in syndication McGruder, The beginning and end of each strip is dated with the month and year it appeared in syndication throughout the book.
The syndicated strips in Public Enemy 2 begin on March 12, and end on November 13, Public Enemy 2 was published in Playing the Dozens There are numerous instances of the dozens in the content of The Boondocks comic strip.
One of the first instances of playing the dozens occurs in a May 2, strip. Huey is concerned about the latest news on the Iraq war. Caesar is concerned about world events; however Caesar provides the reader with comic relief as he often urges Huey to think about issues outside of politics.
Another example of the dozens is manifested in a July 27, strip. This is an undesirable result as Huey always remains in control of his aggression, an example of being cool by remaining unaffected and emotionless. Huey In a November 12, strip Huey is critiquing Black entertainment television and discussing the lack of respectable television stations aimed at the Black community.
Huey rarely finds Caesars insult to be humorous and in a later segment actually addresses the lack of humor found in Caesars insults.
That was my best joke! I like my comedy to expose the folly of the world we live in. Huey seeks to add an element of social relevance laced with wit in the dozens game by challenging Caesar to direct his insult towards John Ashcroft, a United States politician who served under George Bush from — In The Boondocks it is evident that the majority of insults situate the Black female as the site of humor in the dozens game.
The father figure is never the subject of the dozens game in The Boondocks, which is not surprising because historically the patriarchal figure has seldom been the source of humiliation in the dozens game.
The Boondocks reinforces the degradation of the Black female through the performance of the dozens. In the content of The Boondocks comic strips, women find themselves absent, as there is a lack of Black female characters and a Black female voice, while simultaneously casting them as the target of humor through the performance of Black masculinity.
The situating of women as subjects of symbolic annihilation is twofold in The Boondocks, as the strips manifest ambivalence towards women, while rendering them virtually non existent. In over strips the presence of the Black female voice is non-existent, yet humor is directed towards Black women on several occasions.
Thus, by explicating this aspect of cool pose Playing the Dozens , we learn that playing the dozens can act as a form of hegemonic Black masculinity which has significant implications and perhaps consequences for the Black female. Search for Pride and Manhood Riley, in particular, will be the focus of this analysis because he embodies many examples of the search for pride and manhood through exemplifying components of toughness, search for adolescent identity, gang activity and delinquency.
Riley is about making money and rap music. Majors and Billson suggest that Black males do not respect other Black males who fail to embody or display a tough image. This sentiment is echoed in the abovementioned segments of The Boondocks, in which Riley seeks to identify with rappers but denounces the Black community.
Riley views hip hop artists as cool, but shows a lack of respect for the Black community in general, including his brother Huey. In a November 23rd, strip Huey wakes Riley up because Granddad is calling Riley to do some chores. Riley, disturbed that Huey has woken him out of his sleep immediately smacks Huey in the face and goes back to sleep. Riley is a product of hip hop commercialization and subscribes to many of the products young Black boys would consider cool.
Riley signifies the influence the media and popular culture may have on adolescents. Being cool is a valued trait for Riley and he incessantly seeks to adhere to cool behaviors through hip hop culture. This is not surprising as hyper-masculinity juxtaposed with hip hop culture is a thoroughly explored area of study See Campbell, ; Hopkinson and Moore, ; Jackson, Cool behaviors are also expressed through male-female dynamics in the strip. Similar to hip hop culture, masculinity is expressed through the embodiment of misogyny and ambivalence towards women as previously discussed.
Cool behaviors may prevent Black males from developing authentic relationships with woman Majors and Billson, This was the sentiment outlined by 9 Black girls in focus group interviews. Women, even as adolescents, struggle to negotiate their own space. Boys and girls need to be armed with tools to be able to cope with a variety of messages carried over the nonstop communications and mass media that rule the world.
Within The Boondocks a strong Black female voice is omitted even as the strip deals with significant and relevant issues on politics and race. This in itself symbolizes hegemonic Black masculinity which subsequently trivializes the Black female.
The Boondocks creates a world in which the Black female is not needed or represented. In one strip the male-female dynamic is touched upon. What do I say to make her like me? This sentiment is evidenced in the aforementioned strip and is representative of cool behavior. Riley embodies many facets of cool behaviors; however his character is actually the minority.
Riley is ostracized and often ignored because of his lack of political and social awareness. Huey and Caesar often dismiss Riley because of his lack of intellectual thought and excessive identification with popular culture.
Riley is not a character that one would look up to or idolize as everything about his character exemplifies the ills within and across the Black community. This is the irony of The Boondocks, one may assume the strip glorifies and stereotypes the Black community; however in many ways it challenges stereotypes and raises complex questions about the messages and effects of hip hop and popular culture on young Black males. The Boondocks paints a clear picture that Black centered entertainment, the Black community as a whole, reality television shows and Black celebrities all contribute to the state of the Black community and the messages young Blacks interpret and construct.
Makes Black people look lazy and stupid?! Riley, as a victim of hip hop commercialization, accepts the degradation of the Black community and enjoys the entertainment offered by the show. Moreover, Granddad asserts that the show is demeaning, but enjoys the show for its entertainment value despite its discriminatory and over exaggerated representation of Black culture. Riley is militant, defiant, delinquent and violent, all aspects of being cool.
McGruder states in an interview with the Baltimore City Paper : The problem is that a lot of us don't have much experience with satire and irony because we've been inundated with simplistic entertainment from every angle.
I created Riley specifically to comment on the whole wannabe-gangsta, materialistic culture. A lot of people, period, don't understand. Critical thinkers understand what I'm trying to do with the Riley character. I can't do anything about it if people don't get it p. Riley is portrayed as a problem in society, rather than a functional, contributing citizen and family member.
The Boondocks does, however maintain a counter narrative through Huey. Huey possesses a vocabulary well beyond that of a typical eleven year old and positions the well being of the Black community as an integral part of his mission to uplift the Black community and challenge the status quo.
According to Fairclough , language may have a more significant role in contemporary socioeconomic role in contemporary socioeconomic changes than it has had in the past. Therefore, comic strips are a site in which real social issues manifest within the language of the strip. Even though, The Boondocks depicts varied personalities, perspectives and social locations among the Black male characters, it is still evident that the main characters feel the need to enact cool behaviors, signifying the continued necessitate in coping within a restrictive, oppressive system.
However, often times Caesar provides the reader with comic relief by creating a narrative that trivializes and degrades Black women. Thus, as Black masculinity is performed through the dozens, women are cast as under-valued. One notable yet unexpected finding which the researcher deems significant is the symbolic annihilation of the Black female in The Boondocks.
This term, symbolic annihilation was first referenced by Gaye Tuchman in a book titled Hearth and Home. Therefore, by omitting or marginalizing certain minority groups a medium symbolically sends a message to consumers about the societal value of that group. In The Boondocks it is evident that the majority of insults situate the Black female as the site of humor through playing the dozens. The dozens is an African American tradition with roots in slavery in which Black males exchange insults in an effort to verbally embarrass ones opponent.
The aforementioned is a form of training for Black males as they prepare to face the real world. Race, Gender and The Boondocks In The Boondocks women become the brunt of many jokes, rendering them victim to denunciation.
The Boondocks reinforces the degradation of the Black female through the performance of the dozens, an aspect of Black masculinity. The situating of women as subjects of symbolic annihilation is twofold in The Boondocks.
The strip manifests hegemonic Black masculinity when women are mentioned, while rendering them non existent in appearance. The lack of a Black female voice in such a politically driven strip symbolically denigrates and devalues the opinion of the Black female community. The strip also symbolically makes a statement that, to be a woman means to have a limited role in society.
These messages are reinforced in The Boondocks by the treatment of women when they do appear and the insults directed towards women throughout the strip. In addition, Huey is an Afrocentric revolutionary trying to uplift the Black community, however there is no strong female voice with the same agenda in the strip.
This symbolically states that Black men are the only ones who can lead the way to racial equality and social consciousness in the Black community — no female voice is needed. To date the symbolic annihilation of women has not been studied within Black popular media representations; however this study shows that the trivialization and marginalization of women is present within modern African American literature. Spence ed , Achievement and Achievement Motives. San Francisco, CA: Freeman.
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