It would be hard to adequately convey the anticipation I've had for this project. I've been literally waiting for most of a year when I heard that Aaron McGruder, Kyle Baker and Reginald Hudlin were getting together to make a graphic novel it was natural to expect the beginnings of a revolution.
Aaron McGruder is the creator of the Boondocks, which is without a doubt the funniest, most politically insightful and subversive comic strip out today.
Kyle Baker is the author of Why I Hate Saturn, a superlative graphic novel in its own right, full of engaging and hilarious dialogue on topics ranging from the battle of the sexes, the interplay of race and culture, the limits of sanity and family loyalty, and why NY city pizza joints never give you enough napkins.
Reginald Hudlin is one of the Hudlin brothers, filmmaking duo behind Bebe's Kids, House Party, Boomerang, and most importantly (at least in my opinion) Cosmic Slop, an afro-futuristic film reminiscent of the Twilight Zone where Rod Serling-style segues are delivered by the ever-funky George Clinton's disembodied head.
Originally the Birth of a Nation project was conceived as a film, and I strongly suspect that it would have been more effective in that medium. But the story still works as a graphic novel, and is highly entertaining.
The graphic novel begins with the story of the predominantly-black city of East St. Louis where the citizens gradually come to the conclusion that their political rights and local concerns are not being respected by the U.S. government, so they choose to secede from the United States and found their own nation of Blackland (whose anthem can be sung to the theme music from Good Times). The rest of the novel deals with the struggles of the mayor/president as he tries to negotiate with and survive the powerful forces which threaten the new nation's existence, while keeping his integrity intact.
I thoroughly enjoyed the graphic novel and would heartily recommend it. My only reservation is that, in my opinion, it didn't live up to the heights I expected given the previous work of the individual creators on their own projects. But I would still look forward to any future collaborations from this team and hope their work spawns a new politically conscious direction in popular culture (film, comic books, etc.) much as BDP and Public Enemy sparked a stream of consciousness in hip-hop. Yeah Booooy!
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