A Right to Be Hostile

He is arguably the most controversial cartoonist at work in the mainstream media today, with a comic strip so hot it has been repeatedly dropped by individual papers, but never stopped in its fiery, funny commentary. Aaron McGruder, the man behind the Boondocks comic strip, rails against President Bush, actor Cuba Gooding Jr., Black Entertainment Television, and much more.

Now Boondocks is syndicated in 250 papers nationwide. The Boondocks story began with its young black characters, brothers Huey and Riley, moving with their grandfather to a white suburb, "pilgrims in an unholy land." And since 9-11, Huey, the main character, has latched onto domestic and global politics like a pitbull. The comic is neither maudlin nor safe. It pokes tough fun, prods hard, and offends, grandly, in a world far apart from Marmaduke and Ziggy.

Click the "Listen" link to hear Aaron McGruder talk about his controversial cartoons and how he gets away with it.

Guests:

Aaron McGruder, creator of the comic strip "Boondocks." He has three books, "A Right to Be Hostile: The First Big Book of the Aaron McGruder," "Fresh For '01.... You Suckas" and "Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper." In July he signed a contract with Sony to develop a feature film and television series based on the strip.