There goes my afternoon. Everytime you upload one of these essays I have rewatch the whole Operation Black Steel playlist, too. Go ahead and take this like up front, I know you're good for it.
Ive heard the phrase "whiteness is a metaphor for power" a lot before but Id say this is the first time Ive really had it broken down as to the root of why that is said and what it means
As a biracial kid in school I learned about black history but never realized how white washed it was until both my parents sat me and my siblings down and showed us the movie Memphis about the kkk as my school just closed over it growing up, then the only time I actually know that they used hoses, dogs, the death threats by the government to mlk and were violent against the mlk protests was because of not my school no they again just closed over it and I learned it from the boondocks and my grandmother telling me stories about her parents. Hell the only history I learned in my school was slavery and that rosa parks nothing else only time I learned anything about the black community’s history was from me physically searching through the internet or my dads side of the family telling me as my mom and her family didn’t think it was even important Edit: okay yeah about the last part my mom and her side of the family just thought it wasn’t important as they thought the schools would teach it And about the movie part yeah that’s how I learned about how the kkk and other events but they where mostly documentaries. My middle school I went to was in the south and there was a majority of about 50 non white kids there but then in highschool it was the same thing most history we learned was all again white washed and glossed over or repeated from what we already knew from middle and elementary. Like I didn’t even know the black panther party, malcom x, all of it me and my siblings didn’t know about until I started to look things up on my own and seeing videos about the topics and grandparents and cousins on my dads side who I rarely saw being up the history when someone brought it up in conversation.
I'm black but it was the same for me. I was the only kid at my school who knew who Carter G. Woodson was because of people at my church. People look at you weird when you know how Black History Month started out from Negro History Appreciation week
That last sentence...I don't understand why people go and have kids with people outside their race only to dismiss or not acknowledge the other side...🙄
@@s.calamity5545 it could also just be possible that they didn't know, or thought it would have been taught well enough in school. No need to be cynical
@Phillipenis Barbalooch what are you even talking about. Btw I’m not black in Asian but I’m in middle school rn. Basically they just go we did slavery our bad for one day and go over the bad things America did for one lesson then the go entire units just talking about how America is good. They don’t tell the extent of how bad it was they just gloss over it.
french haha you should check out the Haitian revolution and see what they did for black ppl in history but they stories are never told if you look at black western and white history u will find the had apart in it, and a lot of what black ppl are say like black is beautiful and great they been saying it since 1804
The Haitian revolution is a nice example of what this video talks about. Haiti had a class of free blacks, often with some white ancestry, that tried to carve out their own class and treated enslaved blacks as a different race entirely. And during the revolution itself there were even revolutionary leaders that tried to sell out their entire pwople to the French in exchange for being elevated to that land-owning free black class. The whole ordeal is like a crash course in identity and power politics history.
Have you heard of the Black animation studio in Japan? The first one ever, and to be in Japan, as well.. I’m excited to see anime made by us, and geared towards us; but, given the same respect as Japan’s animators. Hoping it inspires more to do the same.. we have so many stories, topics, genres, etc we can elevate & add to..
I'm white but i agree so much, like why is all white shows just tell the same 3-4 storylines over and over? All the characters are just the same set of tropes hanging out together. Its like we just want to keep making new rip offs of the simpsons or family guy for the next 40 years. Having more writers/animators from different races would allow for more perspectives to be told and would be more interesting in general, like more variety
@@MidTierVillain I don’t want to crush your hope, but it is unlikely that much good will come from that. The anime industry is extremely toxic and, much like how one black president didn’t fix a lot of problems in the US, one black animation studio isn’t going to do much, not alone, but it will hopefully be a start to great change.
And the stories that do get out are usually poorly written or not entertaining which distracts from the message that the piece of media is trying to tell you
Unpopular opinion: if black people were taught their history, we'd probably be less radical. most of my anger came from the fact that I had to learn horrific events by myself, on the internet as a child.
Same. and I'm 14! It's terrifying, I've learned so much in 2020, it's almost funny how much they don't teach you this in school. Now I can't even look at normal and regular old pictures of black people or black families because my mind goes straight to "oh my god, what happened now", real scary😢
Majority of blacks are conditioned to be passive. Research into the founding of the American school system to sum it up to its adopted from the Prussian model which is designed to foster children/citizens to be 100% subservient to the state and be an efficient worker. I only found this out when I watched a philosophical video btw. These social groups like B1, PRO BLACK, pan Africanism comes from the intellectual side/activism in response to the exploitation and miss education of our people. If we were taught our history we would all end up Radical! Its just the fact of the matter! The political system in America for instantance isn't supposed to factor us into the equation. That's why any attempts to build black capital is sparked with controversy and adversaries because every minority group entering the US or existing in is compliant in keeping blacks at the bottom. Like said in the video whiteness is contrary to power, so it serves any benefit for other ethnicity to oppress us as well. As the working class! Our success is only written by them and we were warned by Malcolm x of the danger these black celebrities are to us.
The Boondocks is one of those masterpieces that cannot be replicated. It portrays different aspects of the black experience and what it means to be black. It is very easy to generalize the black experience and assume most black people share the same cultural viewpoints of the world. The Boondocks challenges that narrative and shows the many different shades of the black experience. Tom and Riley are on the two extreme ends of the black experience with regard to what it means to be a successful African American. The Boondocks amazingly shows this common misconception in the African American community with regard to what it means to be a real black person. Riley's character would win the real black person contest over Tom purely based on the fact that Riley's character is considered the likeliest to have experienced a real black person experience. When you dissect the two characters, Tom's character has actually been very helpful to the black community throughout the series despite being considered an Uncle Tom or company man working for the system. Riley's character however likable, represents everything wrong in the black community. The fact that Riley's character is allowed to get away with a lot of shenanigans and still remain more likable than Tom, that in itself is a cause for serious introspection. This is the frustration Huey shares throughout the series and is a frustration mirrored by a lot of black people when it comes to racial identity and relating with other black people. I believe in the search of a unique identity, black people tend to detach themselves from traits they perceive as associated with white people. The Boondocks perfectly illustrated this. If white people are associated with speaking in complete words and sentences, as a black person I need to speak in incomplete words and sentences to detach myself from that whiteness. But, I cannot find a high-paying job speaking in incomplete words and sentences, so the system is designed for me to fail because I am black. However, If I speak in complete sentences, I will sound white and work for the system that oppresses other black people that speak in incomplete sentences and will be called an Uncle Tom. So, speaking in incomplete sentences is part of my black identity and I should celebrate it. This is a common pattern of events that usually plays out in the black community and the media commercializes on this because it represents a unique take on identity. Yes, there is a type of commercial blackness, but unfortunately, we are the people that sell it to the media, and the media refines it and sells it back to our communities and the cycle starts again.
One thing i love about Riley is how he grew nicer over the series. He says and does things in seasons 2-4 that he wouldn't do in 1. Him being more brotherly with huey is something I really like.
Tbh fans like this are the reason rick and morty went to shit, characters need flaws, and when an author believes his own hype, everything falls apart. Once they listened to how the fans called rick the smartest man in the universe, they wrote him that way, removing all his flaws and breaking the show. Huey is not perfect and should not be.
A little correction: the BET *episodes* (plural) have both been subjected to censorship/banning. "The Hunger Strike" and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show" episodes, both from season 2, were heavily critical of BET.
The appropriation of rap music and blackness is no different from how jazz music, jazz poetry, swing and rock'n'roll by capitalism. This really sucks hard.
When people sign contracts they agree to sell their art(which includes culture) to viewers and listeners for a dollar amount. The amount is often low at that. Blame the artists. However, realize they want to feed themselves and their families. You would do the same if you were as talented and had a contract in front of you. It's about economics.
@@hamptonmyles6230 I can understand the class distinction and desperation, but when it comes to the black elite, they are so disconnected and divorced from black culture that they end up selling out their their own heritage.
Well... There is a difference seeing how we were kicked out of rock n roll, jazz, and swing. Hip hop originally discussed the issues in the black community and was a form of self expression in general.
@@CosmoShidan There's enough diversity amongst African Americans for every artist to speak and sell on a mass level without selling jeopardizing this heritage you mentioned. MF DOOM, Quentin Miller, Black thought, Young Thug, Vince Staples, and Will Smith's son all rap about different topics. No one of them speaks for all African Americans or hold a voice for a unified unchanging people. My homie in La speaks Spanish and can dance salsa while my patna from the eastside of Atlanta speaks French, likes anime and comic books. Both of those guys are African American(born and raised in this countryl. Both like hip hop. Neither of their heritages or cultures will be taken by another person making music and selling it. Elites and non elites are free to do as they choose.
Man I gotta say it's been an absolute pleasure watchin your interaction with this series evolve as you study more scholarship, investigate the mind behind the Boondocks, and reflect on your own blackness. I love stumbling into these videos and realizing you and I have just read the same book and then rewatched the same episode lol. I love seeing your growing understanding of misogynoir, capitalism, white supremacy, etc. inform your analysis. One thing that disappoints me about the upcoming reboot is that there was so much to mine from the original series that a lot of viewers haven't even engaged with yet. It frustrates me to no end how corporate greed makes it impossible for art to just end because it pushes the public onto some reboot or spin off with next project rather than letting them sit with the beauty of what's already been created, so I love that you have chosen to take on that challenge. Thanks for your work.
Boondocks is more than just a cartoon satire show, to reboot a genius show like it without the mastermind is truly a spit in the face to everybody in the name of money. The show won’t ever be complex and sophisticated as it was in the first 2 seasons with Aaron
I'm a mixed Hispanic that can pass for white but I can definitely confirm that most Latinos that I've met our kind of casually racist against black people and Afro-Latinos. I was lucky enough to go to school and have teachers and actually did cover significant portions of African American history and their ideological bases, but I also had to do a lot of research on my own.
@@oku12 well yeah what I mean is that there is a lot of posturing but combined with stuff like religious fundamentalism if you talk to any of those people for any extended amount of time then they'll come out and be just not even casually racist, but like very virulently racist
im a mixed (native + black) girl, i live in argentina and honestly most of the black and native history i learned about was watching documentaries on the internet and tv. i actually didnt know i wasnt white until about 2 years ago, because the concept of race doesnt really exist here. having said that, i think the biggest problem when it comes to discrimination here is colorism. its incredible how self hating we tend to be, most of us dont know our race but youll get discriminated for your skin color. sometime we will be the same color and still call each other names. its wild out here.
@@quemira1207 oh I definitely know that. I'm Guatemalan and I've been there and I've seen that I've also seen TV in Latin America and it's dominated by light-skinned people. I passed so aside from here in the US because of language and cultural differences I haven't really experienced much discrimination, buy I do see the self-hate for sure.
Well yeah, that’s the point. That point is made even clearer in season 1 episode 15 “The Passion of Reverend Ruckus.” When Ruckus was asking is flack to name 5 black people they hate, Tom played along and didn’t even take 30 second to believe in Ruckus’s words that he hates black people (despite being black himself). All the more reason why Tom and Ruckus are excellent foils for Robert.
The older I get, the more grateful I am for to attending a liberal highschool and college. After spending k-8 in Tennessee and Texas, I was shell shocked when I moved to Portland Oregon. It was the first time I wasn’t forced to say the pledge of allegiance every morning like a mindless drone. They didn’t sugar coat a damn thing in history. I learn about the truth of Christoper Columbus in 9th grade. Although the learning experience was great, one of the most heart breaking things I discovered was when I my school too a field trip to a Civil Rights Museum in 10th grade. I read about how the black activism associations wouldn’t allow women to be leaders or in any high ranking positions. Then when I learned about the suffragette movement, I realized it was mainly only for straight middle class white women. Also that affirmative action was mainly created for white women. That was what lead to the womanism movement (a civil rights movement specifically for black women). Suddenly, my view of all the Civil Rights and feminist leaders that even the most whitewashed and misogynistic history books blindly praised was shifted. As a black women, I was so disappointed. Those people knew how terrible it felt to be discriminated for how they were born, so why would they inflict the same prejudice towards black women? That’s when I learned the word, “intersectionality.” Also that whole commercialized version of blackness is why black people like me were always mocked by other black kids and told, “You don’t act black. You talk like a white person. You’re an Oreo.”
As always, I come for The Boondocks, I leave with a better understanding of the world. Keep up the good work! I grew up in Truro. Don't know if you've heard of it but it's one of the whitest parts of the UK, so my views on blackness were shaped by what I saw on TV (hip hop, athletes and cribs and the like). Education about race was basically "Slavery happened but William Wilberforce ended it so we're ok now." And "Martin Luther King ended racism and it's not a problem anymore" the teacher made a white kid read the I have a dream speech in a black voice (shudder). If you'd been making content then, I probably wouldn't have been as much an ignorant buffoon about a couple of things. Cheers.
Wow. well I wish the best for you as I try to make a yt account myself to educate those of African descent about Black history all over the world with my videos through comedy skits and animation n interviews and many more! God bless!
This guy fr we really could that’s why I wanna change the system of education or just in general even if it means completely destroying the system. But thanks!!!
I grew up in Lappland. An area that's so inhospitable only the native Swedes, Sami, Meänkieli and Finns stand any real chance of thriving. I think i was around 15 the first time i saw a genuine black person in the flesh. Racism here was never really an issue (since black people have never, don't want to and will likely never want to actually live here. The only ones who actually live here are refugees without much choice) and as such i never cared about racism. I still don't care about it to be honest. That's a problem the Americans have created and a problem they too will have to solve. Watching from the sidelines is pretty interesting though. I'm still more of a fan of the original German Martin Luther but i guess the American one is pretty good too. Keep it up i guess... but it would probably be better if you all solved it.
My cousin had never watched the Boondocks so I put on two episodes for him to watch. One of them was the “Fried Chicken Flu” episode and he was in shock as to how on point that episode was to modern day.
Wow I didn't really dig deep into the Tom Dubois character like that, that he is a subtle Uncle Ruckus. I mean maybe my subconscious peeped that, but until I heard it... it just clicks now. Plus he has a white wife. To black women, especially now, that says a lot without saying anything at all. Much respect. Always supporting your videos.✊🏾😎👏🏾👏🏿💯
This video is quite profound. Tom is the White Liberal. Ruckus is the White Conservative in Malcolm X’s speech... ruclips.net/video/T3PaqxblOx0/видео.html
@Alex Meggoe Yo that should have been obvious, for me at least. Lol I barely remember that episode and how everyone acted, except for Huey and even then the details of that one was vague for me. But I knew, as always, "Uncle" Ruckus was on some bs and Tom for agreeing. Smh.
Riley and jasmine both want the american dream but have different methods of getting there. Riley wants to be an entrepreneur while jasmine wants to be a worker.
Contrapoints made a video called Opulence, and had a segment about why hip-hop/rap artists are so appealing to black youths. The media portrays them as a having won the “American Dream.” Compared to doctors, lawyers, or working in high ranking corporations, part of hip-hop/rap opulence’s appeal is for poor black youth, it’s the most obtainable path to the “American Dream.” Kinda like winning the lottery.
Honestly I think both are systems of control. The image of success and power that many Blacks buy into is supplied by White people and other minorities who used similar methods like Italians and the mofia. But equally signing up for revolution because thats your skin color is also giving away your own control and identity. Both are letting others, regardless of race, money or whatever define you. One cousin is a successful lawyer and the other a head doctor. Both would prob disagree with the narrative of buying into the Whiteness paradigm means selling out because they still feel pretty independent and afro-centric. However, they still both believe in that idea of success because thats what was told to them, what they worked for, and how they support their families. I say be who you are regardless of who says what short of murder and rape. Theres always going to be someone out there demanding you subscribe to their worldview of what they should be or how to see the world
That’s the most down to earth thing I’ve read here, or most spiritual/insightful rather. That’s why I like to somewhat disassociate myself from my race/color because that doesn’t define who I am. I choose who I want to be, what I want to wear, eat, listen to, speak and think not my heritage or some rebels or scholars.
Why is blackness so commercialized? It might be because,for some people, buying and selling blackness is an acceptable substitute for buying and selling black people.
Something that really rang true with me was the concept of seeking "approval" from your oppressor. As a trans woman I am not a cis straight male, although I am white I am in a group that is oppressed by society. But I know from experience that I feel a need to find a form of approval from cis women and men "to make myself able to prove that I am real". I know its not the exact same situation, but I have an idea of the emotions in play there. Anyways, I love your stuff and it has given me a lot of knowledge about the systemic racism our society suffers from. Whilst I am not black I want to be as understanding and supportive as I can so it helps with avoiding committing mistakes.
@@joenuts5167Well good for you I don't like men. I am not forcing anyone and for all purposes I feel and seem real? I mean I exist and reply to you here. Fun to see one of you people here on a video like this. Are you real? I don't know. But you can't force women to be with you so you need to stop doing that.
Your content is so brilliant. Seamlessly educational, yet also very entertaining. And you express your personality perfectly. Honestly one of my new favorite channels.
Great video, When you were taking about the commercializing of hip hop into gangster rap, it reminded of a thought I had a few months back about country/folk. I noticed how political and sometimes even revolutionary early country/folk and hip hop was, and I noted how they both became commercialized, initially I thought it was for broader market appeal. But thanks to your vid (and comparing popularity of early country/folk to modern) it made me realize that it was a concerted effort on the part of capitalists to keep rural people docile to the system leaching from them. Sure being able to market it was a factor, but control was the main motive. And look at how it made rural folks docile, do not underestimate the power of culture, almost everyone hears the word “redneck” and thinks of some uneducated white guy with a beer belly. When the original usage for the word was for organized labor militias in the rural south responding to police and private suppression of organized labor. So while not exactly the same, there are similarities with country/folk and hip hop.
By any chance, have you ever seen the show Daria? The reason I ask is because when I first watched the Boondocks, it kinda reminded me of Daria; almost like it was a black version of the aforementioned show. I guess it’s mostly because of how I had thought that Huey and Daria were kinda similar based on how they both seemed to have an antisocial misanthropic outlook on life for different reasons. In addition, I think the other main characters from Daria such as Jane, Quinn, Helen, and Jake could be comparable to Caesar, Riley, Sarah, and Tom respectively. There’s also the characters Jodie and Mack who are the only prominent black supporting characters in Daria of which you could probably do a video on as Jodie in particular was a character who had similar ideals to Daria, but actually chose to engage in social and extracurricular activities unlike the title character based on wanting to be a positive black role model in the prominently white community that the show takes place in. Especially considering how it had been recently announced that there was going to be a spin-off sequel series of Daria that will focus on the character of Jodie.
Hey man! You should also put up a list of books you reference in the video! I'm always trying to be on the lookout for more reading material into these issues.
While it's true there is a deep history of black people within the European colonial system, the same could be said of almost every race throughout history. And many of those qualities you describe as "whiteness" are merely the privilege of whatever group happens to hold power or influence at the time, regardless of race, gender, or creed.
your content is so informational. i watched the boondocks around 2017 and your content makes me want to watch it again. i live in the middle east and im half african so american social politics doesnt really affect me but it is fascinating (and in my opinion, very important) to learn about. keep doing you man!
I'm glad I found this video, I loved this show and while I'm very aware socially I lacked the perspective to really understand a lot of it. This is my first vid of yours but I look forward to watching the rest.
Great breakdown of what made Boondocks so great. So WTF is Aaron McGruder doing with Black Jesus? I've been watching, patiently waiting for the reason for its existence to become apparent and I'm still waiting.
I think the point of Black Jesus is to really contextualize how Jesus really was, in the modern day. When you hear about him from "Christians" you only hear about him preaching and doing miracles (and being the one white guy in the Middle East), but if you read the Bible you see he basically hung out with the "deviants" of society, the people who were looked down up, who weren't so successful, etc. It's an interesting take on how Jesus was and who he'd hang out with
Thank you for your continued content. I have to say your breakdowns are a welcome conversation. I’ll be waiting for your next video. Amazing work please keep it coming.
It’s channels like this one and the videos like these that got me to really realize how whitewashed history was and how the system is so against us still. I’m a mixed kid and I never really realized how a lot of this genuinely affected me and my own until I got fed up with all the oppressive bullshit and started to take my knowledge and learning about it into my own hands; look up things I hear on videos and actually pay attention, it’s important for channels like yours to exist and I wish more people watched
Not to jump down too big a rabbit hole but is right to be hostile ever happening? Every time these videos come out I want to dig deep into the comic and show. Keep up the good shi!
This video is the best thing I've seen on youtube in a long time. You have a great mind and have an amazing insightfulness that I've never seen before. Thank you for such a wonderful video.
Awesome work man. A lot of these hip hop groups spoke to us white kids too. For better and worse. The bridge between these two styles, imo, was Outkast. And to this day, I'm 39, they're my favorite artist period after Pink Floyd.
I have seen boondocks before and it was great. But this video opened my eyes even more. Its so interesting and educational. The analysis is great. Greetings from a slavic comrade.
Thanks for your videos. I'm a white writer & character designer and I don't understand a lot about this show because I never grew up with black hip-hop culture, but I still respect it as a well made black-made show from word of mouth, so your videos are extremely helpful in explaining exactly what this show does and why it's important to someone not quite in on the joke. I'm terrible at making friends due to extreme social anxiety so I feel like I'm a bad creator if I'm not asking PoC directly about what's important what to do and not do when creating PoC characters. At the same time, I hear all the time, "nobody owes you an explanation." so I'd feel bad if I asked to begin with. Like I said, I'm just bad at socializing. I know you didn't specifically make this video for white creators like myself, but I guess I just wanted to say that you're helping dumbasses like me in the process. Specifically because of the homophobia you've mentioned in earlier episodes, I made a couple black male gay and feminine characters. I notice feminine female characters aren't in media a lot either, so I want to make some more of those too. And I always make sure their hair is natural. Since seeing that episode and doing that, I met a black gay man who mentioned the homophobia in black culture, and I reflectively said "Oh yeah, I know." I felt like an asshole. I just hope that no matter what dumb shit I say, my character designs will speak out to somebody. That's all that really matters. I want to have these characters exist and be real, but I will never claim "I know" if I can.
Great video! The Boondocks, along with Chappelle's Show, raised me. Black Jesus is a whole other beast of a show. Although it does reflect black life in Comptom, it's message about love and Jesus' returning is something I think we ought to examine.
Love Boondocks. I've been reading it since 1996. Could you do a series on comic strip charecters that did not make it into the show? I loved Cesar and would like to know why he and Cindy didn't show up in the show. I have my own theory, but would like to hear yours.
@@TheStorytellerAJ yeah she's there but in the show she doesn't have a name. She is one one several neighborhood kids that shows up in Reilly's buisness or Huey's kickball game. Sure she's there but to know who she is you have to have been following Boondocks for a while.
After watching the 1st season of the Fresh Prince of Bel- Air I kidna had a revelation. Yeah it was a bit of a stoner esk hypothetical but I started to take in everything that was black people/culture related from the media and parts of the internet with grains of salt. Ignored my homework for a week and did my own research, wanted to puke throughout the week with how disgusted I was with my own ignorance and how white washed everything was. As much as I would like to talk to others I know about it in depth to clear some things up, I can't. Mainly in fear of coming off as pretentious since I'm white. I'm not gonna pretend I know everything but I do know what I'm trying to be fed with is no ordinary bullshit.
Skullington, you're a self fullfilling prophecy. You sound more pretentious than you could possibly imagine. Honesty is a great way not to sound pretentious but you sound like one of those proper "The system is out to destroy me" Alex Jones style conspiracy nuts. Just be honest with those around you. If you have something good to say then say it. The color of your skin doesn't matter if you have a good point.
This video was educational as fuck and shows just how intelligent Aaron is. I’m Puertorican so maybe I can’t relate 100% to the black struggle, but the only way I can help my black brothers is to educate myself on all of this stuff
I tried to explain to my mom about blm and why it's important. And she would constantly deflect and talk about how she only ever saw black people on TV that were looting and burning buildings down. She still says all lives matter. Despite having mixed kids and dated black men, and being immersed in the black community for a while after getting disowned by her parents for dating a black man. Yet she still holds these beliefs.
We are most definitely reviewing this channel on our Channel you real soon this is awesome flight an extra Boondocks show without Boondocks but with it and I know you might get tired of doing The Boondock but f*** it it works
I think it's funny how history is romanticized or painted in absolute horror. When it's usually a muddle of gray, and if we taught that people would realize that humanity, no matter what race has the power to be complete assholes. Not to mention when history books completely ignore trigger points or backgrounds of events. But forget to mention that the person that did it, well wasn't a good person at all or was completely by accident. Boondocks actually made an episode around this Catcher Freeman, one of the best episodes.
Our people need solidarity I shouldn’t be afraid to go outside and worry if another black man or police officer it’s gonna cut my life short. I shouldn’t be afraid to go too the justice system to seek do diligence. I shouldn’t want to leave my home and country because I don’t feel safe. My family members that were killed deserve justice. My ancestors fought for the safety of their children not for their children to be burying the firstborns. We as a community have to remember what’s important and what’s worth fighting for. I should be proud that I’m black. I should feel that I am doomed because of the color of my skin. Peace to the gods❤
Recent speech Aaron said Louie was a kid Louis Farrakhan and Riley was Huey P. Newton edit: ✍️ He drew Louis Farrakhan and Huey P Newton as kids and they are cute so it made their words more palatable
@@TheStorytellerAJ recent speech 🎤 and it's WHAT HE SAID. I may have the characters wrong or flipped but it's what he said. ruclips.net/video/y5ZJ_ulz6EM/видео.htmlsi=crWoONoW7W_YVC9d
6:20 reminds me of where I live. In this not so distant past that was the 20th century, my people would be told to "speak White" if they dared speak in their native French and not in English. And you know what's bonker about it? We are caucasian! We are, in all technicality, white. But we were told we were not white cause we spoke French. So, yeah. I'm not Black and I can never know what if feels like to be Black in the USA... but I remember the past, I remember the struggle of my people trying to make ends meet in the north american lands, I remember that British imperialists waged war against us. I remember that when they failed to kill us all, they tried to assimilate us: they deported ten of thousands of us across America, they outlawed our religion, our culture and our tongue because we didn't conform to their view of "whiteness." So to all my brothers and sisters who saw their parents and grandparents struggle for freedom, I tell you in the beautiful tongue of Michel Tremblay" "Je me souviens." Paix ☮
Woah I never realized that Riley bought huey that jacket that’s actually rlly sweet
I always just assumed Huey already had it
@@windandfireproductions5358 same here
I know, that was a sharp observation. @TheStoryteller has to teach me his ways. Lbs
And the fact that huey wears it shows the appreciation
Keith Solomon Right that makes it even better. I can’t wait for the reboot
There goes my afternoon. Everytime you upload one of these essays I have rewatch the whole Operation Black Steel playlist, too. Go ahead and take this like up front, I know you're good for it.
Ive heard the phrase "whiteness is a metaphor for power" a lot before but Id say this is the first time Ive really had it broken down as to the root of why that is said and what it means
As a biracial kid in school I learned about black history but never realized how white washed it was until both my parents sat me and my siblings down and showed us the movie Memphis about the kkk as my school just closed over it growing up, then the only time I actually know that they used hoses, dogs, the death threats by the government to mlk and were violent against the mlk protests was because of not my school no they again just closed over it and I learned it from the boondocks and my grandmother telling me stories about her parents. Hell the only history I learned in my school was slavery and that rosa parks nothing else only time I learned anything about the black community’s history was from me physically searching through the internet or my dads side of the family telling me as my mom and her family didn’t think it was even important
Edit: okay yeah about the last part my mom and her side of the family just thought it wasn’t important as they thought the schools would teach it
And about the movie part yeah that’s how I learned about how the kkk and other events but they where mostly documentaries. My middle school I went to was in the south and there was a majority of about 50 non white kids there but then in highschool it was the same thing most history we learned was all again white washed and glossed over or repeated from what we already knew from middle and elementary. Like I didn’t even know the black panther party, malcom x, all of it me and my siblings didn’t know about until I started to look things up on my own and seeing videos about the topics and grandparents and cousins on my dads side who I rarely saw being up the history when someone brought it up in conversation.
I'm black but it was the same for me. I was the only kid at my school who knew who Carter G. Woodson was because of people at my church. People look at you weird when you know how Black History Month started out from Negro History Appreciation week
That last sentence...I don't understand why people go and have kids with people outside their race only to dismiss or not acknowledge the other side...🙄
I'm kinda like a black mixed with red
@@s.calamity5545 it could also just be possible that they didn't know, or thought it would have been taught well enough in school. No need to be cynical
@Phillipenis Barbalooch what are you even talking about. Btw I’m not black in Asian but I’m in middle school rn. Basically they just go we did slavery our bad for one day and go over the bad things America did for one lesson then the go entire units just talking about how America is good. They don’t tell the extent of how bad it was they just gloss over it.
french haha you should check out the Haitian revolution and see what they did for black ppl in history but they stories are never told if you look at black western and white history u will find the had apart in it, and a lot of what black ppl are say like black is beautiful and great they been saying it since 1804
The Haitian Revolution I ve Heard About That.
The Haitian revolution is a nice example of what this video talks about.
Haiti had a class of free blacks, often with some white ancestry, that tried to carve out their own class and treated enslaved blacks as a different race entirely.
And during the revolution itself there were even revolutionary leaders that tried to sell out their entire pwople to the French in exchange for being elevated to that land-owning free black class.
The whole ordeal is like a crash course in identity and power politics history.
Jesus we need more black creators in the animation/film industry, it feels like white hollywood tells like 10% stories that could actually be told
Have you heard of the Black animation studio in Japan? The first one ever, and to be in Japan, as well.. I’m excited to see anime made by us, and geared towards us; but, given the same respect as Japan’s animators.
Hoping it inspires more to do the same.. we have so many stories, topics, genres, etc we can elevate & add to..
I'm white but i agree so much, like why is all white shows just tell the same 3-4 storylines over and over? All the characters are just the same set of tropes hanging out together.
Its like we just want to keep making new rip offs of the simpsons or family guy for the next 40 years.
Having more writers/animators from different races would allow for more perspectives to be told and would be more interesting in general, like more variety
@@MidTierVillain I don’t want to crush your hope, but it is unlikely that much good will come from that. The anime industry is extremely toxic and, much like how one black president didn’t fix a lot of problems in the US, one black animation studio isn’t going to do much, not alone, but it will hopefully be a start to great change.
yah we do
And the stories that do get out are usually poorly written or not entertaining which distracts from the message that the piece of media is trying to tell you
Unpopular opinion: if black people were taught their history, we'd probably be less radical. most of my anger came from the fact that I had to learn horrific events by myself, on the internet as a child.
Same. and I'm 14! It's terrifying, I've learned so much in 2020, it's almost funny how much they don't teach you this in school. Now I can't even look at normal and regular old pictures of black people or black families because my mind goes straight to "oh my god, what happened now", real scary😢
Everyone should be taught black history. I think if white people knew it better, there would be less racist pricks in this world.
Black history is American history as much as people constantly try to tear it apart
Majority of blacks are conditioned to be passive. Research into the founding of the American school system to sum it up to its adopted from the Prussian model which is designed to foster children/citizens to be 100% subservient to the state and be an efficient worker. I only found this out when I watched a philosophical video btw. These social groups like B1, PRO BLACK, pan Africanism comes from the intellectual side/activism in response to the exploitation and miss education of our people. If we were taught our history we would all end up Radical! Its just the fact of the matter! The political system in America for instantance isn't supposed to factor us into the equation. That's why any attempts to build black capital is sparked with controversy and adversaries because every minority group entering the US or existing in is compliant in keeping blacks at the bottom. Like said in the video whiteness is contrary to power, so it serves any benefit for other ethnicity to oppress us as well. As the working class! Our success is only written by them and we were warned by Malcolm x of the danger these black celebrities are to us.
Me learning how my family got its wealth from the toil and suffering of others only radicalised me. So I don't know about that...
The Boondocks is one of those masterpieces that cannot be replicated. It portrays different aspects of the black experience and what it means to be black. It is very easy to generalize the black experience and assume most black people share the same cultural viewpoints of the world. The Boondocks challenges that narrative and shows the many different shades of the black experience. Tom and Riley are on the two extreme ends of the black experience with regard to what it means to be a successful African American. The Boondocks amazingly shows this common misconception in the African American community with regard to what it means to be a real black person. Riley's character would win the real black person contest over Tom purely based on the fact that Riley's character is considered the likeliest to have experienced a real black person experience. When you dissect the two characters, Tom's character has actually been very helpful to the black community throughout the series despite being considered an Uncle Tom or company man working for the system. Riley's character however likable, represents everything wrong in the black community. The fact that Riley's character is allowed to get away with a lot of shenanigans and still remain more likable than Tom, that in itself is a cause for serious introspection. This is the frustration Huey shares throughout the series and is a frustration mirrored by a lot of black people when it comes to racial identity and relating with other black people. I believe in the search of a unique identity, black people tend to detach themselves from traits they perceive as associated with white people. The Boondocks perfectly illustrated this. If white people are associated with speaking in complete words and sentences, as a black person I need to speak in incomplete words and sentences to detach myself from that whiteness. But, I cannot find a high-paying job speaking in incomplete words and sentences, so the system is designed for me to fail because I am black. However, If I speak in complete sentences, I will sound white and work for the system that oppresses other black people that speak in incomplete sentences and will be called an Uncle Tom. So, speaking in incomplete sentences is part of my black identity and I should celebrate it. This is a common pattern of events that usually plays out in the black community and the media commercializes on this because it represents a unique take on identity. Yes, there is a type of commercial blackness, but unfortunately, we are the people that sell it to the media, and the media refines it and sells it back to our communities and the cycle starts again.
One thing i love about Riley is how he grew nicer over the series. He says and does things in seasons 2-4 that he wouldn't do in 1.
Him being more brotherly with huey is something I really like.
Daily reminder, Huey is the greatest fictional character ever created
facts
Yep 🤗🤗🤗🤭🤭🤭👍💎
Tbh fans like this are the reason rick and morty went to shit, characters need flaws, and when an author believes his own hype, everything falls apart. Once they listened to how the fans called rick the smartest man in the universe, they wrote him that way, removing all his flaws and breaking the show. Huey is not perfect and should not be.
@@wade-potato6200
Nobody said huey was perfect. Of course he has flaws. Still my fav character of all time
Agreed!
The BET episode was censored off of Netflix, so I hadn't seen it until I saw it on RUclips.
I love when they make fun of Reginald Hudlin. His Black Panther comic is an overrated power Fantasy filled with so much stupid.
A little correction: the BET *episodes* (plural) have both been subjected to censorship/banning. "The Hunger Strike" and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show" episodes, both from season 2, were heavily critical of BET.
i love your content bro, always leave knowing more than when the vid started. much respect✊🏾
The appropriation of rap music and blackness is no different from how jazz music, jazz poetry, swing and rock'n'roll by capitalism. This really sucks hard.
When people sign contracts they agree to sell their art(which includes culture) to viewers and listeners for a dollar amount. The amount is often low at that. Blame the artists. However, realize they want to feed themselves and their families. You would do the same if you were as talented and had a contract in front of you. It's about economics.
@@hamptonmyles6230 I can understand the class distinction and desperation, but when it comes to the black elite, they are so disconnected and divorced from black culture that they end up selling out their their own heritage.
Well... There is a difference seeing how we were kicked out of rock n roll, jazz, and swing. Hip hop originally discussed the issues in the black community and was a form of self expression in general.
@@marissawilson4644 As was swing, rock'n'roll, jazz and jazz poetry, the latter of which hip-hop is patterned after.
@@CosmoShidan There's enough diversity amongst African Americans for every artist to speak and sell on a mass level without selling jeopardizing this heritage you mentioned. MF DOOM, Quentin Miller, Black thought, Young Thug, Vince Staples, and Will Smith's son all rap about different topics. No one of them speaks for all African Americans or hold a voice for a unified unchanging people. My homie in La speaks Spanish and can dance salsa while my patna from the eastside of Atlanta speaks French, likes anime and comic books. Both of those guys are African American(born and raised in this countryl. Both like hip hop. Neither of their heritages or cultures will be taken by another person making music and selling it. Elites and non elites are free to do as they choose.
Man I gotta say it's been an absolute pleasure watchin your interaction with this series evolve as you study more scholarship, investigate the mind behind the Boondocks, and reflect on your own blackness. I love stumbling into these videos and realizing you and I have just read the same book and then rewatched the same episode lol. I love seeing your growing understanding of misogynoir, capitalism, white supremacy, etc. inform your analysis.
One thing that disappoints me about the upcoming reboot is that there was so much to mine from the original series that a lot of viewers haven't even engaged with yet. It frustrates me to no end how corporate greed makes it impossible for art to just end because it pushes the public onto some reboot or spin off with next project rather than letting them sit with the beauty of what's already been created, so I love that you have chosen to take on that challenge. Thanks for your work.
Boondocks is more than just a cartoon satire show, to reboot a genius show like it without the mastermind is truly a spit in the face to everybody in the name of money. The show won’t ever be complex and sophisticated as it was in the first 2 seasons with Aaron
Wait? I thought the reboot did have Aaron as in charge of the direction of the show.
Say it isn't so please😟
I'm a mixed Hispanic that can pass for white but I can definitely confirm that most Latinos that I've met our kind of casually racist against black people and Afro-Latinos. I was lucky enough to go to school and have teachers and actually did cover significant portions of African American history and their ideological
bases, but I also had to do a lot of research on my own.
@@oku12 well yeah what I mean is that there is a lot of posturing but combined with stuff like religious fundamentalism if you talk to any of those people for any extended amount of time then they'll come out and be just not even casually racist, but like very virulently racist
@@oku12 im sorry yall have to experience non black people calling you that, and how normalized it is
im a mixed (native + black) girl, i live in argentina and honestly most of the black and native history i learned about was watching documentaries on the internet and tv. i actually didnt know i wasnt white until about 2 years ago, because the concept of race doesnt really exist here. having said that, i think the biggest problem when it comes to discrimination here is colorism. its incredible how self hating we tend to be, most of us dont know our race but youll get discriminated for your skin color. sometime we will be the same color and still call each other names. its wild out here.
@@quemira1207 oh I definitely know that. I'm Guatemalan and I've been there and I've seen that I've also seen TV in Latin America and it's dominated by light-skinned people. I passed so aside from here in the US because of language and cultural differences I haven't really experienced much discrimination, buy I do see the self-hate for sure.
4:30 I feel like Tom Dubois and Uncle Ruckus are two sides of the same coin. Their names even make up the term Uncle Tom
Well yeah, that’s the point. That point is made even clearer in season 1 episode 15 “The Passion of Reverend Ruckus.” When Ruckus was asking is flack to name 5 black people they hate, Tom played along and didn’t even take 30 second to believe in Ruckus’s words that he hates black people (despite being black himself). All the more reason why Tom and Ruckus are excellent foils for Robert.
This nigga a genius
The older I get, the more grateful I am for to attending a liberal highschool and college. After spending k-8 in Tennessee and Texas, I was shell shocked when I moved to Portland Oregon. It was the first time I wasn’t forced to say the pledge of allegiance every morning like a mindless drone. They didn’t sugar coat a damn thing in history. I learn about the truth of Christoper Columbus in 9th grade. Although the learning experience was great, one of the most heart breaking things I discovered was when I my school too a field trip to a Civil Rights Museum in 10th grade. I read about how the black activism associations wouldn’t allow women to be leaders or in any high ranking positions. Then when I learned about the suffragette movement, I realized it was mainly only for straight middle class white women. Also that affirmative action was mainly created for white women. That was what lead to the womanism movement (a civil rights movement specifically for black women). Suddenly, my view of all the Civil Rights and feminist leaders that even the most whitewashed and misogynistic history books blindly praised was shifted. As a black women, I was so disappointed. Those people knew how terrible it felt to be discriminated for how they were born, so why would they inflict the same prejudice towards black women? That’s when I learned the word, “intersectionality.”
Also that whole commercialized version of blackness is why black people like me were always mocked by other black kids and told, “You don’t act black. You talk like a white person. You’re an Oreo.”
Came from Hasanabi’s channel, I never knew I wanted this type of content until now. Great video my friend
Let's be real, this is very specific to Black Americans tho. Black people (people in general)in other countries get their "black swag" from them. 🤷🏾
I thought Huey was a reference to the Black Panther Party co- founder, Huey P.Newton?
He is, but Huey is essentially Aaron & Huey P. Newton wrapped in one.
As always, I come for The Boondocks, I leave with a better understanding of the world. Keep up the good work!
I grew up in Truro. Don't know if you've heard of it but it's one of the whitest parts of the UK, so my views on blackness were shaped by what I saw on TV (hip hop, athletes and cribs and the like). Education about race was basically "Slavery happened but William Wilberforce ended it so we're ok now." And "Martin Luther King ended racism and it's not a problem anymore" the teacher made a white kid read the I have a dream speech in a black voice (shudder). If you'd been making content then, I probably wouldn't have been as much an ignorant buffoon about a couple of things. Cheers.
Wow. well I wish the best for you as I try to make a yt account myself to educate those of African descent about Black history all over the world with my videos through comedy skits and animation n interviews and many more! God bless!
@@KayloJocks We all could do with a better understanding. Best of luck with your channel!
This guy fr we really could that’s why I wanna change the system of education or just in general even if it means completely destroying the system. But thanks!!!
I grew up in Lappland. An area that's so inhospitable only the native Swedes, Sami, Meänkieli and Finns stand any real chance of thriving. I think i was around 15 the first time i saw a genuine black person in the flesh. Racism here was never really an issue (since black people have never, don't want to and will likely never want to actually live here. The only ones who actually live here are refugees without much choice) and as such i never cared about racism. I still don't care about it to be honest. That's a problem the Americans have created and a problem they too will have to solve. Watching from the sidelines is pretty interesting though. I'm still more of a fan of the original German Martin Luther but i guess the American one is pretty good too. Keep it up i guess... but it would probably be better if you all solved it.
It’s funny how people like to pretend that the rest of the world is less anti black than America. (Looking at you too Canada)
My cousin had never watched the Boondocks so I put on two episodes for him to watch. One of them was the “Fried Chicken Flu” episode and he was in shock as to how on point that episode was to modern day.
Wow I didn't really dig deep into the Tom Dubois character like that, that he is a subtle Uncle Ruckus. I mean maybe my subconscious peeped that, but until I heard it... it just clicks now. Plus he has a white wife. To black women, especially now, that says a lot without saying anything at all. Much respect. Always supporting your videos.✊🏾😎👏🏾👏🏿💯
This video is quite profound. Tom is the White Liberal. Ruckus is the White Conservative in Malcolm X’s speech... ruclips.net/video/T3PaqxblOx0/видео.html
@@jamerican347 Thanks for the link. Fr.
@Alex Meggoe Yo that should have been obvious, for me at least. Lol I barely remember that episode and how everyone acted, except for Huey and even then the details of that one was vague for me. But I knew, as always, "Uncle" Ruckus was on some bs and Tom for agreeing. Smh.
What's wrong with a Black man having a White wife?
@@lightningonlycommentsonce5824 Are you a bot?
Riley and jasmine both want the american dream but have different methods of getting there. Riley wants to be an entrepreneur while jasmine wants to be a worker.
Contrapoints made a video called Opulence, and had a segment about why hip-hop/rap artists are so appealing to black youths. The media portrays them as a having won the “American Dream.” Compared to doctors, lawyers, or working in high ranking corporations, part of hip-hop/rap opulence’s appeal is for poor black youth, it’s the most obtainable path to the “American Dream.” Kinda like winning the lottery.
Honestly I think both are systems of control. The image of success and power that many Blacks buy into is supplied by White people and other minorities who used similar methods like Italians and the mofia. But equally signing up for revolution because thats your skin color is also giving away your own control and identity. Both are letting others, regardless of race, money or whatever define you. One cousin is a successful lawyer and the other a head doctor. Both would prob disagree with the narrative of buying into the Whiteness paradigm means selling out because they still feel pretty independent and afro-centric. However, they still both believe in that idea of success because thats what was told to them, what they worked for, and how they support their families. I say be who you are regardless of who says what short of murder and rape. Theres always going to be someone out there demanding you subscribe to their worldview of what they should be or how to see the world
That’s the most down to earth thing I’ve read here, or most spiritual/insightful rather. That’s why I like to somewhat disassociate myself from my race/color because that doesn’t define who I am. I choose who I want to be, what I want to wear, eat, listen to, speak and think not my heritage or some rebels or scholars.
We're just cogs in the machine of civilisation.
Why is blackness so commercialized?
It might be because,for some people, buying and selling blackness is an acceptable substitute for buying and selling black people.
Oh u got something there
😳
Bruh I got chills, wow. I never thought about it like that.
What?
Something that really rang true with me was the concept of seeking "approval" from your oppressor. As a trans woman I am not a cis straight male, although I am white I am in a group that is oppressed by society. But I know from experience that I feel a need to find a form of approval from cis women and men "to make myself able to prove that I am real". I know its not the exact same situation, but I have an idea of the emotions in play there.
Anyways, I love your stuff and it has given me a lot of knowledge about the systemic racism our society suffers from. Whilst I am not black I want to be as understanding and supportive as I can so it helps with avoiding committing mistakes.
Your not real and you can’t force men to be with you. Get over it
@@joenuts5167Well good for you I don't like men. I am not forcing anyone and for all purposes I feel and seem real? I mean I exist and reply to you here.
Fun to see one of you people here on a video like this. Are you real? I don't know. But you can't force women to be with you so you need to stop doing that.
You are a beautiful lady don't let anyone drag u down
@@Borealis-RainbowYou fuckin' annihilated that whelp, nice!
@@lazywriter1665 I know this is late, for some reason I got no notification but thank you.
Your content is so brilliant. Seamlessly educational, yet also very entertaining. And you express your personality perfectly. Honestly one of my new favorite channels.
Great video,
When you were taking about the commercializing of hip hop into gangster rap, it reminded of a thought I had a few months back about country/folk.
I noticed how political and sometimes even revolutionary early country/folk and hip hop was, and I noted how they both became commercialized, initially I thought it was for broader market appeal.
But thanks to your vid (and comparing popularity of early country/folk to modern) it made me realize that it was a concerted effort on the part of capitalists to keep rural people docile to the system leaching from them. Sure being able to market it was a factor, but control was the main motive.
And look at how it made rural folks docile, do not underestimate the power of culture, almost everyone hears the word “redneck” and thinks of some uneducated white guy with a beer belly. When the original usage for the word was for organized labor militias in the rural south responding to police and private suppression of organized labor.
So while not exactly the same, there are similarities with country/folk and hip hop.
Honestly bro your videos make my Day🤘🏿
One of the most beautiful and not straightforward videos you've managed to put out, love it
not sure if this is a compliment or not
@@TheStorytellerAJ yooo it is lmao I enjoy your content a lot
@@TheStorytellerAJ it kinda means I love it but if I wanted to show someond a vid I'd prolly use this one
By any chance, have you ever seen the show Daria? The reason I ask is because when I first watched the Boondocks, it kinda reminded me of Daria; almost like it was a black version of the aforementioned show. I guess it’s mostly because of how I had thought that Huey and Daria were kinda similar based on how they both seemed to have an antisocial misanthropic outlook on life for different reasons. In addition, I think the other main characters from Daria such as Jane, Quinn, Helen, and Jake could be comparable to Caesar, Riley, Sarah, and Tom respectively.
There’s also the characters Jodie and Mack who are the only prominent black supporting characters in Daria of which you could probably do a video on as Jodie in particular was a character who had similar ideals to Daria, but actually chose to engage in social and extracurricular activities unlike the title character based on wanting to be a positive black role model in the prominently white community that the show takes place in. Especially considering how it had been recently announced that there was going to be a spin-off sequel series of Daria that will focus on the character of Jodie.
there doing a spin off with jodie?????
Jolyne Nizuma Yes indeed, here’s where I learned about the news of the Daria spin-off:
ruclips.net/video/CKOUxnWoTmM/видео.html
Very good analysis and love the detail and depth you go in when referring to characters from the boondocks
Hey man! You should also put up a list of books you reference in the video! I'm always trying to be on the lookout for more reading material into these issues.
While it's true there is a deep history of black people within the European colonial system, the same could be said of almost every race throughout history.
And many of those qualities you describe as "whiteness" are merely the privilege of whatever group happens to hold power or influence at the time, regardless of race, gender, or creed.
your content is so informational. i watched the boondocks around 2017 and your content makes me want to watch it again. i live in the middle east and im half african so american social politics doesnt really affect me but it is fascinating (and in my opinion, very important) to learn about. keep doing you man!
I'm glad I found this video, I loved this show and while I'm very aware socially I lacked the perspective to really understand a lot of it. This is my first vid of yours but I look forward to watching the rest.
Great breakdown of what made Boondocks so great. So WTF is Aaron McGruder doing with Black Jesus? I've been watching, patiently waiting for the reason for its existence to become apparent and I'm still waiting.
I think the point of Black Jesus is to really contextualize how Jesus really was, in the modern day. When you hear about him from "Christians" you only hear about him preaching and doing miracles (and being the one white guy in the Middle East), but if you read the Bible you see he basically hung out with the "deviants" of society, the people who were looked down up, who weren't so successful, etc. It's an interesting take on how Jesus was and who he'd hang out with
@@stupidmonkey089 and please tell me black Jesus points out how jesus and god aren't real
@@stupidmonkey089 well except jesus, but he was just a human with influence.
Thank you for your continued content. I have to say your breakdowns are a welcome conversation. I’ll be waiting for your next video. Amazing work please keep it coming.
Father has uploaded again and here I am ready for it
I haven’t liked a video in almost a year and this my man was a masterpiece, keep going your a needed voice for our gen
thats how you nail the concept of a "Video Essay" good fucking work. am now subscribed
It’s channels like this one and the videos like these that got me to really realize how whitewashed history was and how the system is so against us still. I’m a mixed kid and I never really realized how a lot of this genuinely affected me and my own until I got fed up with all the oppressive bullshit and started to take my knowledge and learning about it into my own hands; look up things I hear on videos and actually pay attention, it’s important for channels like yours to exist and I wish more people watched
Huey's name comes from the black panthers.
Not to jump down too big a rabbit hole but is right to be hostile ever happening? Every time these videos come out I want to dig deep into the comic and show. Keep up the good shi!
This video is the best thing I've seen on youtube in a long time. You have a great mind and have an amazing insightfulness that I've never seen before. Thank you for such a wonderful video.
Awesome work man. A lot of these hip hop groups spoke to us white kids too. For better and worse. The bridge between these two styles, imo, was Outkast. And to this day, I'm 39, they're my favorite artist period after Pink Floyd.
Stay black y'all
But dont be ignorant black like one of those people who stole shoes in BLM movement that shit was hot doo doo garbage of what some black people did.
I have seen boondocks before and it was great. But this video opened my eyes even more. Its so interesting and educational. The analysis is great. Greetings from a slavic comrade.
Thanks for your videos. I'm a white writer & character designer and I don't understand a lot about this show because I never grew up with black hip-hop culture, but I still respect it as a well made black-made show from word of mouth, so your videos are extremely helpful in explaining exactly what this show does and why it's important to someone not quite in on the joke. I'm terrible at making friends due to extreme social anxiety so I feel like I'm a bad creator if I'm not asking PoC directly about what's important what to do and not do when creating PoC characters. At the same time, I hear all the time, "nobody owes you an explanation." so I'd feel bad if I asked to begin with. Like I said, I'm just bad at socializing. I know you didn't specifically make this video for white creators like myself, but I guess I just wanted to say that you're helping dumbasses like me in the process.
Specifically because of the homophobia you've mentioned in earlier episodes, I made a couple black male gay and feminine characters. I notice feminine female characters aren't in media a lot either, so I want to make some more of those too. And I always make sure their hair is natural. Since seeing that episode and doing that, I met a black gay man who mentioned the homophobia in black culture, and I reflectively said "Oh yeah, I know." I felt like an asshole.
I just hope that no matter what dumb shit I say, my character designs will speak out to somebody. That's all that really matters. I want to have these characters exist and be real, but I will never claim "I know" if I can.
Want to make a good "Poc" character? Simple make a good character then make them "poc"
@@DaddyAZTL PoC means “People of color” sorry if you already knew that lmao.
I really like that picture of Riley in the thumbnail. I hope they're gonna use that anime art style for the reboot.
Great video! The Boondocks, along with Chappelle's Show, raised me. Black Jesus is a whole other beast of a show. Although it does reflect black life in Comptom, it's message about love and Jesus' returning is something I think we ought to examine.
I love how deep your videos educate African American ppl with a cartoon bro.
It’s November and I’m suprised their isn’t any new news on the boondocks. ISNT THIS THE MONTH IT COME OUT!!!
Love Boondocks. I've been reading it since 1996. Could you do a series on comic strip charecters that did not make it into the show?
I loved Cesar and would like to know why he and Cindy didn't show up in the show. I have my own theory, but would like to hear yours.
Cindy is in the show.
@@TheStorytellerAJ yeah she's there but in the show she doesn't have a name. She is one one several neighborhood kids that shows up in Reilly's buisness or Huey's kickball game. Sure she's there but to know who she is you have to have been following Boondocks for a while.
Watch The Fundraiser, Ballin' and Gangatslicious. She's there.
Great and informative video. Really helped advance my perspective on Commercialized Blackness, which is something I've been interested in for a while.
This video made me have a dream last night where I was talking with thus beautiful black girl about the Boondocks and the reboot
Back when I worked on the rez near our lil farm town I always loved playing ghetto gospel
This video is god-damn amazing. This channel seem to be criminally underrated.
Perfect video my man you up in here shooting lightning thousands of times
Your backing instrumentals are on point 👌🏿
After watching the 1st season of the Fresh Prince of Bel- Air I kidna had a revelation. Yeah it was a bit of a stoner esk hypothetical but I started to take in everything that was black people/culture related from the media and parts of the internet with grains of salt.
Ignored my homework for a week and did my own research, wanted to puke throughout the week with how disgusted I was with my own ignorance and how white washed everything was.
As much as I would like to talk to others I know about it in depth to clear some things up, I can't. Mainly in fear of coming off as pretentious since I'm white. I'm not gonna pretend I know everything but I do know what I'm trying to be fed with is no ordinary bullshit.
Skullington, you're a self fullfilling prophecy. You sound more pretentious than you could possibly imagine. Honesty is a great way not to sound pretentious but you sound like one of those proper "The system is out to destroy me" Alex Jones style conspiracy nuts. Just be honest with those around you. If you have something good to say then say it. The color of your skin doesn't matter if you have a good point.
man I aint watched your videos in a few months and i forgot how good they were lol
Miss this show, this channel takes some of the edge off that.
I hope Cesar comes back in the reboot
This video was educational as fuck and shows just how intelligent Aaron is. I’m Puertorican so maybe I can’t relate 100% to the black struggle, but the only way I can help my black brothers is to educate myself on all of this stuff
Love your videos, bro. Stay droppin' jewelz.
I tried to explain to my mom about blm and why it's important. And she would constantly deflect and talk about how she only ever saw black people on TV that were looting and burning buildings down.
She still says all lives matter. Despite having mixed kids and dated black men, and being immersed in the black community for a while after getting disowned by her parents for dating a black man.
Yet she still holds these beliefs.
I think the biggest problem would be BLM not saying they don’t support the riots you know but that might just be me
Your videos are soo deep bro love this im tryna do something this good one day
Holy shit, your videos are so good even the comment section is insightful.
You don’t miss
I feel an important part is that, black names that get really big are only that big because of white fans.
Good stuff man, everytime you drop a vid i learn a bit more.
I didn’t realize how deeply that chocolate episode characterized Riley.
I've been watching theories about this show for years. It was so interesting and realistic. Everything could be used in a metaphoric sense.
Great video, as always. Keep em coming, comrade!
we love the content you put out bro! keep doing what you do and educating
We are most definitely reviewing this channel on our Channel you real soon this is awesome flight an extra Boondocks show without Boondocks but with it and I know you might get tired of doing The Boondock but f*** it it works
I’d never actually seen the guy that drew the comics. His appearance oddly fits his work.
that last beat though
I think it's funny how history is romanticized or painted in absolute horror.
When it's usually a muddle of gray, and if we taught that people would realize that humanity, no matter what race has the power to be complete assholes.
Not to mention when history books completely ignore trigger points or backgrounds of events.
But forget to mention that the person that did it, well wasn't a good person at all or was completely by accident.
Boondocks actually made an episode around this Catcher Freeman, one of the best episodes.
Another great video, can't wait for the reboot
Our people need solidarity I shouldn’t be afraid to go outside and worry if another black man or police officer it’s gonna cut my life short. I shouldn’t be afraid to go too the justice system to seek do diligence. I shouldn’t want to leave my home and country because I don’t feel safe. My family members that were killed deserve justice. My ancestors fought for the safety of their children not for their children to be burying the firstborns. We as a community have to remember what’s important and what’s worth fighting for. I should be proud that I’m black. I should feel that I am doomed because of the color of my skin. Peace to the gods❤
While I disagree in certain aspects you did a nice job. I especially enjoy your ending and your peception of the "black capitalist."
Recent speech Aaron said Louie was a kid Louis Farrakhan and Riley was Huey P. Newton edit: ✍️ He drew Louis Farrakhan and Huey P Newton as kids and they are cute so it made their words more palatable
It's not a recent speech and that's not what he meant omgggg
@@TheStorytellerAJ recent speech 🎤 and it's WHAT HE SAID. I may have the characters wrong or flipped but it's what he said. ruclips.net/video/y5ZJ_ulz6EM/видео.htmlsi=crWoONoW7W_YVC9d
Your editing is so good!
Can't say I agree, but it seems like an accurate interpretation.
Bro keep it up I look forward to your vidoes ✊🏽
I believe it's actually
'Fear of a Black Planet' not NATION
*8 minutes in* “This nigga SPITTIN’”
Most underrated channel on RUclips
6:20 reminds me of where I live. In this not so distant past that was the 20th century, my people would be told to "speak White" if they dared speak in their native French and not in English. And you know what's bonker about it? We are caucasian! We are, in all technicality, white. But we were told we were not white cause we spoke French. So, yeah.
I'm not Black and I can never know what if feels like to be Black in the USA... but I remember the past, I remember the struggle of my people trying to make ends meet in the north american lands, I remember that British imperialists waged war against us. I remember that when they failed to kill us all, they tried to assimilate us: they deported ten of thousands of us across America, they outlawed our religion, our culture and our tongue because we didn't conform to their view of "whiteness."
So to all my brothers and sisters who saw their parents and grandparents struggle for freedom, I tell you in the beautiful tongue of Michel Tremblay" "Je me souviens."
Paix ☮
Interesting Analysis. Good Video!
I really love your videos. They help me realize a lot about history and just how media affects others.
Best breakdown of The Boondocks.
I really appreciate your content :) thanks my guy
13:46 *”That’s for you to decide, not me.”* ...Why not both?
Genius-level content
Excellent, start to finish!
Once again amazing job 👏.