Birth Of A Nation

This pointed political satire in graphic-novel format is a response to the disenfranchisement of African-American voters during the 2000 Presidential election. It's written by Aaron McGruder, the controversial creator of the Boondocks comic strip, and Reginald Hudlin, director of such films as HOUSE PARTY and BOOMERANG, and illustrated by Kyle Baker, author/artist of the cult-classic graphic novel WHY I HATE SATURN. The people of East St. Louis, Illinois, a vastly underfunded and primarily African-American city, become ineligible to vote in the presidential election when a glitch incorrectly labels most of the residents as convicted felons. The governor of Texas, running against the current vice president, thus wins Illinois by a narrow margin, and that margin is sufficient to sweep the governor into office. The outraged mayor of East St. Louis, Fred Fredericks, declares that East St. Louis will secede from the U.S. and become a new country, the Republic of Blackland. Although the writers have changed the names of the U. S. political figures for the purposes of the story, the depictions of the President and his advisors bear a strong resemblance to key members of the Bush government. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.