by the River,” for example, portrays Cressy Pruit,
who is raped by Sam Packer, one of Jesse James’s
henchmen; unable to negotiate the great racial di-
vide, she reconciles her life and moves on. In the
story “Jesus and Fat Tuesday,” Toulouse seeks ref-
uge in an alcohol ward because he is unable to rec-
oncile his estrangements from his family. Similarly,
in “The Return of the Apeman” in Diving under the
Cardboard Pines, Franklin Washington cannot es-
cape the gang life of St. Louis, while racial injustice
lures Alleeda Grace Sykes back into a life of crime
in “Amazing Grace and Floating Opportunity.” No
matter what her subject matter or theme in her
stories, however, McElroy interweaves the potency
of African-American culture.
Established as a poet long before she began writ-
ing fiction, McElroy has received many accolades
for her writing. Widely anthologized, she is often
recognized for her lyricism, humor, rich narrative
style, sense of place, and transcendence of geog-
raphy. Additionally, McElroy is highly praised for
the dialogue and mythic dimensions of her short
fiction. Among her numerous awards and honors
are the National Endowment for the Arts Creative
Writing Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Matrix
Women Achievement Award, the Before Colum-
bus American Book Award for Queen of the Ebony
Isles, and the Catalyst Black Women in Education
Award. In recent years, too, McElroy’s nonfiction
books, A Long Way from St. Louie: Travel Memoirs
and Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytell-
ers of Madagascar, have attracted interest.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Colleen McElroy.” In The Writer’s Mind: Interviews
with American Authors, edited by Irv Broughton,
39–67. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press,
1990.
McElroy, Colleen J. “If We Look for Them by Moon-
light.” In Where We Stand: Women Poets on Liter-
ary Tradition, edited by Sharon Bryan, 125–138.
New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1993.
Sherman, Charlotte W. “Walking across the Floor: A
Conversation with Colleen J. McElroy.” American
Visions 10 (April/May 1998): 30.
James L. Hill
McGruder, Aaron (1974– )
Groundbreaking comic strip writer, artist, social
commentator, and satirist Aaron McGruder was
born in Chicago, Illinois. When he was six years
old, his parents moved to Columbia, Maryland,
where he grew up. McGruder attended the Uni-
versity of Maryland, where he earned a bachelor
of arts degree in Afro-American studies with a
concentration in social and cultural analysis. Mc-
Gruder is the creator and writer of the poignant,
award-winning, nationally syndicated newspaper
comic strip The Boondocks.
The Boondocks, which debuted in The Dia-
mondback, the University of Maryland’s student
newspaper, in 1996, is developed around the lives
of two brothers, Huey and Riley Freeman, and their
grandfather, who move from the inner city of Chi-
cago into Woodcrest, a suburban neighborhood.
Other characters include rambunctious Caesar, a
Brooklynite and Huey’s best friend, and Jazmine
DuBois, a young biracial girl struggling to find her
identity. Receiving rave reviews, after its debut it
was later published by The Source magazine; by
1999 Universal Press Syndicate began syndicating
the strip nationally to newspapers.
The Boondocks follows the Freemans’ cul-
tural shock, transition, and attempts to accultur-
ate in their new environment. Throughout the
strip Huey, the older brother, is characterized
as militant scholar; he is a representative of and
role model for the underrepresented in modern
America. Riley, the younger brother, typifies con-
temporary urban popular culture. As the product
of his time and representative of his generation,
he is obsessed with gangsters, violence, rap music,
and hip-hop culture in general. Despite their radi-
cally different personalities and generations, the
characters are empowered through their voices.
They speak with humorous but sharp, thought-
provoking voices saturated with political satire
and social commentary. Through humor, Mc-
Gruder candidly and unapologetically addresses
topics and issues related to politics, popular cul-
ture, race, elected and appointed political officials,
black public personalities and entertainers, and all
aspects of hip-hop culture. Although the comic
strip sometimes creates controversy (intentionally346 McGruder, Aaron