Huey Freeman

Huey is an African-American, 10-year-old boy who recognizes and detests the absurdities and injustices (both obvious and perceived) of the society in which he lives. The charismatic side of his mentality and persona involves having logic, rationalism and intelligence, but his negative side also involves cynicism, skepticism, and criticism that often touches upon controversial subjects such as politics, religion, the media, businesses and corporations, African-American culture and American society as a whole, often in either facts or opinions. Huey is also seen quoting Khalil Gibran from time to time which shows his interest in poetry too.[1]

Tending to be obstinate in both manner and speech, Huey has demonstrated a depth of understanding that would seem to surpass his young age, such as knowing roughly what is going to happen in the future based on the actions and personalities of the people involved. For example, in "The Fundraiser", Huey accurately predicts what will become of Riley's candy-selling racket, going so far as to give him a bulletproof vest that eventually saves his life. Oratorically gifted, Huey has shown the ability to seize and hold the attention of entire crowds of people when he wants to do so. He uses this gift during individual interactions as well, during which he can gain a desired effect depending on his intention. In "The Red Ball", he is also shown to understand and speak Mandarin.

Huey is depicted as owning a large collection of books and other reading materials, as he often reads the newspaper, watches the televised news and otherwise makes a point to keep up with current events. Huey seems to show some fondness for Star Wars, and quotes the series often. In "Return of the King", he mentions Oprah Winfrey, saying, "we can only hope", and in "The Story of Gangstalicious Part 2", he states that he likes Elton John. On at least one occasion, he demonstrated an aptitude for writing in the form of script writing (he wrote a play entitled The Adventures of Black Jesus in "A Huey Freeman Christmas"). He has also written poignant letters and emails to public figures imploring them to support various political causes. He has started petitions, made and handed out flyers, and created and edited his own newspaper titled The Free Huey World Report. He uses such media to express his own opinions and ideas, though their impact is generally limited given their logical nature and his minimal resources.

Shown to be a highly skilled martial artist, Huey often demonstrates on various occasions an ability with nunchaku, katana, Gun (staff), as well as hand to hand combat that far surpasses the expected capabilities of a ten-year-old. Though he has won several fights against Riley, a pair of theater guards, Stinkmeaner on one occasion (though with the help of his grand father and brother), Ming on another occasion, a pair of guards, a Conservative talk-show host in "Return of the King", in the Season 4 episode, "Freedomland," Ed Wuncler Jr. in the same episode, and his former friend Cairo on another occasion, he has been defeated several times (Stinkmeaner, Bushido Brown, Luna, Stinkmeaner's crew, and Uncle Ruckus) His fight with Bushido Brown ended with him knocked out (Bushido Brown left to protect his ward Oprah Winfrey), Luna was a Kumite fighter and a White Lotus expert, and Stinkmeaner was at the time, a supernatural presence. And though Uncle Ruckus beat Huey the first time it is not shown who won the rematch; the beginning of the fight was the end of the episode. He also fought a few of Winston Jerome's men. In "A Date With the Booty Warrior" it was mentioned that he and Riley were in a fight with five other boys, in which their principal was severely injured because he "got in the way", the fate of the other five boys wasn't shown but he and Riley appeared completely uninjured. Huey regularly beats Riley with ease in their fights despite the fact Riley often uses objects such as frying pans, or golf clubs in their fights showing Huey is very disciplined and skilled against armed opponents.

In the Season 1 episode "The Real," Huey has several encounters with an undercover government spy, whom he dubs "The White Shadow." At the end of the episode he is left uncertain whether these encounters were real. The man reappears in the Season 3 finale "It's Goin' Down" to warn Huey that government agents actually are on their way to Woodcrest to apprehend him, forcing him into a desperate attempt to flee the city.

Huey seen praying in the season one finale.

Huey does not consider himself to be religious and has mentioned so several times in the comics. Nevertheless, he very passionately insists that Jesus Christ was black and US president Ronald Reagan is the Devil. As of the third season of the series, the only support he has explicitly given to this theory is that many individuals of African descent lived in the Middle East during the time of Christ, which further broadens his apparent sphere of knowledge.

Huey is shown to admire several historical figures. In "The Return of the King" he is the only person who still looks up to Martin Luther King Jr. after King awakens from a 32-year coma and is misconstrued by the public as a terrorist sympathizer. As mentioned before, Huey is named after Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of the Black Panthers. During "The Story of Gangstalicious Part 2" Huey states that Muhammad Ali is a hero of his. He also has many posters of King, Che Guevara, Malcolm X and Hugo Chavez. Three figures he has quoted before are Langston Hughes, Karl Marx, and Khalil Gibran.

While Huey is always portrayed as being a left-wing radical, his specific political ideologies are more logical and less radical than other characters portray them as. On several occasions, such as "The Block is Hot," he has demonstrated a following of revolutionary socialism. This is also backed up because Huey has posters of revolutionary socialists in his room. A belief in anarchism is also plausible, as several of his statements have paid respect to it, however this is not confirmed. In "Or Die Trying..." he teaches a theater ticket taker about anarcho-syndicalism and Marxism. However, a moderate belief in Black nationalism is common, since a desire for a greater unity between the black people of America is a recurring theme. Huey has also quoted Karl Marx, suggesting an understanding of communism. In "The Real" Huey claims to be the founder of 23 radical leftist organizations, including the Black Revolutionary Organization or B.R.O., Africans Fighting Racism and Oppression or A.F.R.O., and the Black Revolutionary Underground Heroes, or B.R.U.H. In terms of public opinion, the national media within the Boondocks' universe often labels Huey as a "domestic terrorist" throughout various newscasts seen during the third season.

The only deep insight in Huey's spiritual beliefs is when he believed an innocent man on death row, whose release Huey had worked for, was about to be executed ("The Passion of Reverend Ruckus"). Alone in a field, Huey dropped to his knees and sobbed as he offered up prayers to God; almost simultaneously, a bizarre chain of events led to the man's sentence being postponed or commuted by the governor. Upon learning of this, Huey says:

Maybe there are forces in the universe we don't understand. But I still believe we make our own miracles.

Being both disillusioned as well as possessing an extremely logical view of the world, Huey is rarely seen smiling in the episodes. He is either in a neutral expression or is seen frowning or shrugging. In season one, Huey was seen smiling when he defeats his brother Riley and in "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus" when he asks Jazmine to come with him to prison (though the smile is quickly replaced with anger toward Jazmine) and twice in "The Block is Hot" when he set up his soap box and when he watched Jazmine speak with Ed Wuncler Sr. In season two, he is seen smiling four times. Twice was in episode "Home Alone" when he nearly cuts Riley and at the end when Granddad returns home after his trip to Costa Rica. The third and fourth are in episode "Ballin'" when Riley finally insults the opposing team's star player enough to make her cry. After scoring multiple baskets, Huey is seen smiling at his brother along with Granddad. He is also seen smiling during the timeout that Tom called to congratulate the team on their playing. Other than four instances, Huey has never been caught smiling. This isn't to say that Huey lacks a softer side, as he will take steps to help and protect those he considers friends or family (ex. Caesar, Tom, Riley, etc.).

It is heavily implied that Huey is a vegetarian. He is rarely seen eating, but is never seen eating meat, and is shown to enjoy veggie burgers. In The Itis, it is revealed that he does not eat pork. His dietary beliefs are shown to be influenced by Elijah Muhammad's How to Eat to Live, which recommends vegetarianism and forbids pork. However, in episodes like "Invasion of the Katrinians" and "Guess Hoe’s Coming to Dinner", Huey is shown eating lobster and fish sticks, which could possibly imply that he's a pescatarian.

Huey is shown to disagree with the popular beliefs of Christmas. Having espoused the belief that Christmas has roots in a Pagan holiday, he has suggested Jesus Christ probably hates people for celebrating it. He frequently displays agnostic-atheistic leanings. In the comic strip, he claims that Santa Claus is an Illuminati agent working toward The New World Order.

In the 2006 Glyph Comics Awards, Huey Freeman was named Best Male Character.

• Boondocks at the Adult Swim website
• Boondocks at the Ucomics website