All Boys Aren't Blue

 

"Navigating in a space that questions your humanity isn't really living at all. It's existing. We all deserve more than just the ability to exist" (Johnson M. 75)

    The book, All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson (they/them/their’s) serves as a memoir-manifesto of the author’s life as they had to navigate through the world as a Black, Queer person. They highlight that they wrote this book for young adults, specifically Black, Queer young adults, who struggle to find themselves represented in literature. They play the role of activist by writing a novel that consistently reminds the reader that this book is intended to help Queer, Black children/teens own and celebrate who they are. The beginning and middle of this novel focus on Johnson’s experiences in elementary and middle school—experiences that often made them feel it necessary to hide their queer identity. While the author affirms that they had a supportive family, something they say they were lucky to have had, they were not always supported by the society around they. They found that they could not properly express the person they wanted to be without enduring a certain amount of ridicule. An example of this in the novel is when Johnson recounts a memory from the playground in elementary school. A boy told them that other boys were calling they a f***** because they played double dutch with the girls instead of football with the boys. Johnson never played double dutch again, and every recess they would go out to play football in order to hide who they truly were. They bring this memory to the fore in order to highlight how oppression works, and to tell Black, Queer teens that they do not need to hide like Johnson did because they have people, such as Johnson himself, who are fighting for their rights everyday. Johnson also focuses on the dual oppression that comes with being Black and Queer. After leaving a predominately Black middle school, they entered into a private Catholic high school that was mainly White. They highlight that they struggled to not only suppress their Queer identity, but their Black identity too. They focus on the importance of retaining a Black history that does not aggrandize or smooth over the negative aspects of American History. They had a major issue with their high school history teacher who said that owning slaves was just the norm for the time. The teacher even goes so far as to say that if he had been alive during the 1700’s, he would have probably owned slaves too. Johnson recounts this experience and the rage that they felt in order to make known that this ‘covering up’ of American history is unacceptable and fuels further oppression of Black people. Johnson brings these experiences to light in order to provide young adults with similar struggles the means to relate to someone. A part of Johnson’s struggle was that they had no one to relate to, no one to give him guidance. Their hope with this memoir-manifesto is to provide young adults a way into the world that accepts and affirms who they are. 

George M Johnson (They/Them)

    George M. Johnson is an award-winning author, activist and journalist. Johnson was born as one of four siblings in Plainfield, New Jersey on October 31, 1985. As a young black American, Johnson struggled with their sexuality, in addition to battling traditional views on masculinity and navigating how being black interacts with and complicates both of those things. Johnson graduated from Virginia Union University in Richmond Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 2007, and in 2012 went on to earn a Master of Arts in human resources development from Bowie State University in Maryland.  It is Johnson’s experiences with queerness, homophobia, and masculinity that have driven them to use their writing as a way to provide the LGBTQ+ and Black communities with literature that validates and recognizes who they are. By utilizing their personal experience and passion, Johnson has become an activist for the HIV, black and LGBTQ+ communities. It is Johnson’s honesty and vulnerability that provides many queer black Americans with a chance to feel visible and recognized. In addition to writing All Boys Aren’t Blue, Johnson has served as a consultant to civil rights leaders and politicians, as well as contributed pieces to various media outlets such as Teen Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, NBC, The Root, Ebony, THEM, INTO, The Grio, VSB, and the Black Youth Project. Johnson has also appeared on both the MSNBC and CBC news stations. If you are interested in learning more about or contacting George M. Johnson, please visit iamgmjohnson.com for more information about them.

1. African American LGBTQ+ Timeline - History provides a comprehensive examination of queer history and representation within the African-American LGBT community, spanning nearly a century from 1912-2010. 

2. George M. Johnson's Interview with NPR - In an interview with NPR’s Petra Mayer, All Boys Aren’t Blue’s author, George M. Johnson, discusses the importance of creating literature which younger generations can relate their struggles to, expressing how young adult literature of this tone was uncommon during their adolescence. 

3. "Growing Up Black and Queer" - Human Rights Campaign - In his guest column for the Human Rights Campaign in honor of Black History Month, actor and playwright Jeremy O. Harris reflects on his personal difficulties growing up as an African-American man who identified as a member of the LGBT community, an upbringing similar to that of George M. Johnson. 

4. “"The rise of young adult books with LGBTQ characters - and what's next" - NBC News - Gwen Aviles writes for NBC News about the widespread expansion of the young adult literary genre to accommodate the stories of LGBT individuals. However, despite the genre’s recent embrace of the LGBT community, she examines the genre and how it still lacks prevalently in some aspects of queer representation. 

5. “What one American realized about growing up Black and queer” - Good Morning America - While discussing Gabrielle Union’s decision to adapt All Boys Aren’t Blue for television, author George M. Johnson talks with Good Morning America about the struggles they faced in their upbringing as a member of the LGBT community and the importance of their memoir for children facing similar struggles today. 

6. "LGBT and Black authors targeted with hate on Goodreads” - PinkNews - All Boys Aren’t Blue’s author identifies as both African-American and queer. In recent news, many readers have purposely criticized authors of both communities on popular book review sites, such as Goodreads, and reaffirming once more the bias of literature as a whole and the lack of adequate representation Johnson sought to dismantle. 

7. "Live, laugh, lesbian" - The Bookseller - Writing for The Bookseller, author Laura Kay discusses the misrepresentation of queer people, particularly those who identify as lesbian, in relation to the entirety of the LGBT community in literature, advocating for a more thorough representation provided in literature.

Vennage Infographic

8. Venngage Infographic on Queer Youth -

The above infographic discloses statistics focuses on youth who identify as members of the LGBT community, examining negative attributes and thus, providing ample reason as to why acceptance of the LGBT community and a simultaneously more-welcoming approach of the community in literature is vital to our times.

Preview/Objective: 

Students will explore the main theme of the memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue and connect it to their own exploration of identity through a choice board. 

California Common Core Standards:

• CCSS Reading Standards 1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. 
• CCSS Reading Standards 2 - Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text
• CCSS Writing Standards 1 - Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. selection, organization, and analysis of content. 
• CCSS Writing Standards 7 - Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. 
• CCSS Speaking and Listening Standards 1 - Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on- one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Resources and Preparation:

• An example choice board to help students with their project: 

Choiceboard Example

• A brief powerpoint lecture:

Instructional Plan:

Students will read the memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue and will be asked before, during, and after what they think their identity is. Students will also explore what obstacles may or may not come within their identity. George M. Johnson speaks on how growing up Black and queer has impacted their life. Students will be asked to demonstrate the main theme of the novel and tie it to their own life through a creative outlet with the use of a choice board. 

Instruction Timeline:

 Start of class: Students had a week to read the memoir. They should be prepared to have a discussion in class about the memoir and their own identities. 

• 12:00-12:15: Powerpoint presentation on identity (queerness, Blackness, etc)
• 12:16-12:21: Students will have five minutes to silently write their interpretation of the memoir’s purpose/theme and write what they think is their personal identity. 
• 12:22-12:32: Students will have 10 minutes to discuss with a partner what they wrote down and ask each other questions on how and why they think the way they do about the memoir and themselves. Can they relate to Johnson? Has it opened their eyes to a new perspective? 
• 12:33-12:43: Students will be asked to share their conversations with the class for a 10 minute class discussion. 
• 12:44-12:50: Students will be instructed to creatively address their personal connections of the memoir to their own identities through a choiceboard. They will have a week to complete their project.

Johnson, George M. All Boys Aren't Blue: a Memoir-Manifesto. Penguin Books, 2021. 

“Journalist. Author. Activist.” GMJ, iamgmjohnson.com/. 

Nbjc. “George M. Johnson.” NBJC Ubuntu, 12 Dec. 2020, beenhere.org/2017/10/31/george-m-johnson/.

"Venngage Infographic" https://www.hrc.org/youth-report/view-and-share-statistics