Shine2.0: Aaron Mcgruder’s Huey Freeman as Contemporary Folk Hero

Abstract

The dynamic visual and sonic remixes embedded in Aaron McGruder’s cartoon The Boondocks represent important instances of a contemporary black artist reasserting the past in the now of the twenty-first century. There’s one moment in particular from the debut episode of the cartoon that resonates in the deep recesses of 1960s black nationalist cultural memory. The cartoon’s protagonist Huey Freeman holds a gun in one hand and peers suspiciously out of the window. Although brief, Huey’s appearance at the window constitutes an allusion to the iconic image of Malcolm X taking a similar pose. Throughout season one of the cartoon, Huey adapts the personas of militant cultural heroes and appeals to the interests of contemporary audiences who place high value on marginalized, vernacular intellectual figures who speak truth to power. To make it plain, Huey Freeman is a kind of Shine2.0, an up-to-date underground black hero.