Fresh For '01... You Suckas: A Boondocks Collection
by Aaron McGruder

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Book Reviews of Fresh For '01... You Suckas: A Boondocks Collection

Book Review: Fresh for all playas, knaawmsayin?
Summary: 5 Stars

Having read of Huey Freeman's antics on the FBI anti-terrorism hotline in The Nation magazine, I had to find out more, so I started out with Fresh For '01... You Suckas! The fun and frolics in the day of removed Chicagoans Huey, Riley, their grandfather in the white suburb of Woodcrest, was a refreshing blast of new air for me.

In this collection, we are introduced to Michael Caesar, better known as Caesar, a Brooklynite in dreadlocks stranded in white suburbia. In comparison to the perpetually angry and depressed revolutionary Huey and his younger brother Riley, who is "Mr. Thug Life," Caesar seems to be the most normal, as he thinks Huey takes things too seriously at times, but is nevertheless drawn in to his friend's sense of purpose, which is to give more than just lip service to James Brown's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and Proud" anthem. And he's the only one who can cut the obnoxious Riley down to size.

Seeing things from a black perspective is interesting and refreshing to say the least. Huey rips on movies for not representing blacks properly. I discern how he longs for more days when blacks were more militant, in the early 1970's. He probably sees Shaft and Coffy as the epitomy of black pride. For him, the revolution needs to start NOW!

The best antics involve Huey's grandfather getting a job as a census taker. He delegates authority to Huey, but torn between his desire to stay true to his anti-establishment ways and helping his grandfather, delegates his assignment to Riley, who has a blast harassing whites. Huey in turn ditches lawn cutting duty to go watch The Patriot with Caesar.

The mainstreaming of urban culture and language to make white people more hip is seen with Cindy, a cute white girl who sits behind Huey in school and is into Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, and ODB. She means well, trying to connect with Huey in her interest in black pop culture while being clueless to his opposition to the mainstream. She tries to impress him by humming theme songs to old school black shows and even does her spin on the "WHAZZUP?" commercial. In the end, all she does is annoy Huey even more, but at least she's open to more black artists and pop culture, even if it is mainstream and corporately packaged. Cindy's funnier than Eric Cartman doing Flavor-Flav in South Park.

This collection covers the early to late stages of the 2000 election. I don't know the time period each collection spans, but I assume the next collection will deal with the 2000 election results and hopefully see Huey's calls to the FBI hotline, and brother, I can't wait for it to come out. Keep'em coming, Mr. McGruder. And to Huey, Caesar, Riley, and the rest of the gang, peace out, y'all.

Summary of Fresh For '01... You Suckas: A Boondocks Collection

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