The creator of the controversial "The Boondocks" comic strip, Aaron McGruder, will deliver the keynote address for UC Irvine's 21st annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Events during the three-day symposium Jan. 18-20, honoring the life of the great civil rights leader, will encourage a critical exploration of the impact of race in America.

"We encourage students and the community to participate in the symposium not only to remember Dr. King's legacy, but also to examine the issue of 'race' in today's society," said Anna Gonzalez, director of the UCI Cross-Cultural Center. "We are delighted to bring Aaron McGruder's bold, fresh voice to address the community."

McGruder, who will speak on "Ethics of Dissent," is both beloved and reviled for his criticism of pop culture and politics, which runs on comic pages across the United States. Often called subversive, "The Boondocks" explores themes of race, bi-racial identity, and juvenile delinquency through the eyes of two young African American brothers growing up in predominately white suburban America.

Even as a college student at the University of Maryland where he majored in African-American studies, McGruder's comic strip garnered national attention when it was published in the independent student newspaper. In 1999, "The Boondocks" was picked up by the United Press Syndicate and began appearing in papers across the country. Being called too politically provocative for the funnies, it has been pulled from several newspapers at various times. McGruder won the "Chairman's Award" from the NAACP Image Awards in 2002.

McGruder will speak at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 20 at the Crystal Cove Auditorium in the UCI Student Center.

The symposium is sponsored by UCI's Cross-Cultural Center and the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. For additional information about the events, contact (949) 824-7215, www.ccc.uci.edu.

All events are free and open to the public.

Tuesday, Jan. 18
2 p.m.., Cross-Cultural Center -- Film screening: "The Difference Between Us," the first episode in the trilogy, "RACE -- The Power of an Illusion," explores why races do not divide people into distinct biological groups. It begins following a dozen students who compare their own DNA and find their closest genetic matches are with peers of different races. For more about the film, visit www.pbs.org/race.

Wednesday, Jan. 19
Noon, Cross-Cultural Center -- "Brutal Solidarity: Youth of Color, Military Service and Neo-assimilation," with Jorge Mariscal, director of the Chicano/a and Latino/a Arts and Humanities Program at UC San Diego, who will discuss current economic and educational opportunities for Latino/a and African American youth in the United States. Mariscal, an alumnus of UCI, is a literature professor at UCSD.

2 p.m., Cross-Cultural Center -- Film screening: "The Story We Tell," the second part of the three-part documentary, "RACE -- The Power of an Illusion," examines the concept of grouping people by their physical characteristics, and explains that this idea of race developed only in the last several hundred years. For more about the film, visit www.pbs.org/race.

Thursday, Jan. 20
Noon, Student Center -- March and rally commemorating King's legacy. The event will begin with remarks by Thomas Parham, assistant vice chancellor of counseling and health services, and will proceed along Ring Mall.

2 p.m., Cross-Cultural Center -- Film screening: "The House We Live In," the final episode of the film "RACE -- The Power of an Illusion" focuses on the ways American institutions and policies put people of certain races at a disadvantage. For more about the film, visit www.pbs.org/race.

7 p.m., Crystal Cove Auditorium, Student Center -- "Ethics of Dissent," with Aaron McGruder, the creator of "The Boondocks," a controversial syndicated comic strip about suburban American life through the eyes of two young African American boys.


About the UCI Cross-Cultural Center: The UCI Cross-Cultural Center is the oldest center of its kind in the UC system. The center's mission is to provide a network of services that support the personal, social, cultural and academic well-being of UCI's ethnic and culturally diverse students, faculty and staff. The center offers educational programs that advance learning and discovery about UCI's various multicultural communities.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked public university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3 billion.

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