Around 2002, my good friend Rashon Khan told me about an interesting guy that he was training, named Aaron McGruder. He told me Aaron was taking his comic strip, The Boondocks, and developing it as a television show and was looking for writers. On the advice of Rashon, I threw my name into the hat.
I met with Aaron and we had a natural chemistry, but I soon found that I wasn’t the only person that threw their name into the hat. The following Sunday, myself, Aaron and about 6 other writers, were writing jokes for The Boondocks comic strip. We would meet every Sunday & I noticed that every week another writer would fall off. One day, I looked up and it was just me & Aaron left. We worked together on the Fox pilot that never made it to air. Together we wrote the pilot “The Trial of R-Kelly” for Adult Swim (although the Garden Party aired first, which I also co-wrote).
I feel as though The Boondocks was my first opportunity to be free comically. Race has always a played a central role in my politics, my personal philosophy and my life. Finding an opportunity where I can virtually say anything has been liberating. I immediately found a voice for Uncle Ruckus, as he is the most extreme character on the show. In writing him, I use a lot of the anger I heard voiced about younger black people from older black people that were around me as a child.
Although, the episodes take an incredible amount of time to produce, this does allow me to work multiple jobs at the same time. I started The Boondocks before My Wife & Kids ended and I continue my services as Executive Producer as of this writing.