All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto

Centers the experiences, desires, and agency of a queer Black boy navigating his evolving selfhood and the challenges of society’s conditional love for his truthful existence.

Queer Black existence has been here forever, and yet rarely has that experience been spotlighted within literature aimed at Black boyhood. This is the context in which this “memoir-manifesto” begins, as Johnson, a still relatively young 33-year-old journalist and activist, debuts his unfolding life story within a vacuum of representation. These stories wrestle with “joy and pain...triumph and tragedy” across many heavy topics—gender policing, sexual abuse, institutional violence—but with a view to freedom on the horizon. Through the witnessing of show more Johnson’s intimate accounts, beginning with his middle-class New Jersey childhood and continuing through his attendance at a historically Black university in Virginia, readers are invited on their own paths to healing, self-care, and living one’s truth. Those who see themselves outside the standpoint of being Black and queer are called in toward accountability, clarifying an understanding of the history, language, and actions needed to transform the world—not in pity for the oppressed but in the liberation of themselves. This title opens new doors, as the author insists that we don’t have to anchor stories such as his to tragic ends: “Many of us are still here. Still living and waiting for our stories to be told—to tell them ourselves.”

A critical, captivating, merciful mirror for growing up Black and queer today. (Memoir. 14-adult)

- Kirkus Starred Review show less

Just look at the title and the cover. It is impossible to resist the challenge it throws at the reader. The book just screams: Pick me up if you dare. The moment I saw the cover and title, I knew I'd read this book.

George M. Johnson is a New York-based writer-cum-activist. There are two things that go against him in general public opinion: he is black, and he is gay. This book narrates the struggles he has faced all through his life, the trauma, the repercussions, the challenges, and the opportunities.

As the tagline suggests, the book isn't just a memoir but also a manifesto. The author confesses his deepest, darkest fears and secrets and also declares how he overcame them. In many of the chapters, he includes advice to young people show more facing the same issues on how to deal with this identity crisis.

So, how does it fare against the expectations it creates?

The book is powerful and impactful, there is absolutely no doubt about that. The straightforward approach of the author comes out very strongly. He seems to have viewed this book as a cathartic opportunity to purge himself of all the anxiety and pain he has kept bottled up in his early years. However, while dwelling on his sexual memories, he goes into a vivid, almost-erotic delineation of his experiences, both consensual and otherwise. Was he just trying to demonstrate the rawness of his pain by being so explicit? I honestly don't know. But it didn't click with me. I must say, the author does warn about this in the introduction itself, where he says that the topic might seem too heavy for teens but he encountered all the abuse as a teen. So he has his valid reasons for including them.

There is a lot of bravery in the book, but there is a lot of cockiness too. He almost seems to boast about his achievements in many places. Memoirs that proclaim "Look at me, see how great I am" are big turn-offs for me.

For the correct target audience i.e. American gay black young adults, the book will probably be a must-read and much more identifiable. But a book such as this mustn't aim at a limited set of readers but should speak to society as a whole. In this day and age, it is extremely important for everyone to understand the challenges faced by the LGBTQIA community. That, however, doesn't happen in this case and the writing seems a bit shortsighted and restricted in its approach.

Furthermore, I think the author should have written this book either as a memoir or as a manifesto. In the quest to do both, he ends up with a jumbled-up result. It is not a bad read, it is definitely not an easy read, but it could have been so much better had the author kept his focus on only one item on his agenda.

The audiobook is narrated by the author himself and he does a pretty good job.

My rating: 4.75 for the intention, 3.5 for the execution.

Trigger warnings: Rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, N word, some homophobic slurs, graphic descriptions of sex.

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Centers the experiences, desires, and agency of a queer Black boy navigating his evolving selfhood and the challenges of society’s conditional love for his truthful existence.

Queer Black existence has been here forever, and yet rarely has that experience been spotlighted within literature aimed at Black boyhood. This is the context in which this “memoir-manifesto” begins, as Johnson, a still relatively young 33-year-old journalist and activist, debuts his unfolding life story within a vacuum of representation. These stories wrestle with “joy and pain...triumph and tragedy” across many heavy topics—gender policing, sexual abuse, institutional violence—but with a view to freedom on the horizon. Through the witnessing of show more Johnson’s intimate accounts, beginning with his middle-class New Jersey childhood and continuing through his attendance at a historically Black university in Virginia, readers are invited on their own paths to healing, self-care, and living one’s truth. Those who see themselves outside the standpoint of being Black and queer are called in toward accountability, clarifying an understanding of the history, language, and actions needed to transform the world—not in pity for the oppressed but in the liberation of themselves. This title opens new doors, as the author insists that we don’t have to anchor stories such as his to tragic ends: “Many of us are still here. Still living and waiting for our stories to be told—to tell them ourselves.”

A critical, captivating, merciful mirror for growing up Black and queer today. (Memoir. 14-adult)

- Kirkus Starred Review show less

All Boys Aren’t Blue is George M. Johnson’s manifesto and coming-of-age memoir about growing up Black and queer. Even as a small child, George felt different. They didn’t feel like a typical boy so they thought maybe they were a girl. They didn’t see a place for an effeminate male in their culture. They spent recess with the girls, double Dutch jump roping until one day they accidentally discovered they were a naturally good football player and that they liked to play football as much as they liked jumping rope. Then George was even more confused. As George got older, they figured out that they weren’t sexually attracted to girls but they weren’t ready to admit to themselves that they were attracted to boys.

Teenagers going show more through the same struggles as Johnson will appreciate their unflinchingly honest perspective. Their recounting of an episode of sexual abuse they experienced as a child was particularly brave. This is actually one of the excerpts that the parent groups trying to get this book banned have taken out of context and circulated. The fact that these groups would equate this scene with pornography makes it clear to me that they have not read the book. It’s not erotic at all and they should be ashamed of themselves for cheapening Johnson’s experience with their ignorance.

The other passage parents are upset about is when Johnson shares about losing their virginity – in college by the way. How many YA books feature young, white straight people losing their virginity or just plain out having sex repeatedly? Where’s the outcry? Judy Blume’s Forever, anyone? And again, this is not porn. This is a person being vulnerable and sharing an experience that teenagers will read and know that they are not alone in being scared and unsure. I can only imagine the impact it has on LGBTQ youth to read George’s story and know that not only are they not the only one who has struggled and been confused but that someone who went through it came out the other side a successful adult person. Representation matters.

Straight teens (and adults) should read this book too. It’s important to read about other people’s experiences and be able to see the world through a different lens. Books like this one can be powerful tools to build empathy and break down barriers.

Highly recommended. show less

I think this book is best suited for two audiences. Young Black queer individuals under the age of twenty three (I learnt that this book is classified as young adult memoir, a genre I did not know existed, and so this makes sense) and both non-Black and non-Queer individuals. It's an informative, even instructive, book where the writer uses the experiences they've faced in a socio-political context to explore the history of racist, homophobic and transphobic oppression; their present-day repercussions; as well as the ways in which they can be remedied to create a better world.

As a rule I don't read memoirs written by individuals under 45 (the number keeps going up the older I get) unless the writer was witness to a momentous event and show more whose account informs and enriches its history. I don't think focusing on narrating traumatic incidents (warning for sexual abuse and violence) as is the case with a lot of memoirs, this one too, necessarily makes good writing. Yet I can't ignore just how resourceful and even important this book is, or the flashes of pleasure I got from seeing a story similar to mine in some ways written. I think it just comes down to having encountered most of the politics discussed here better articulated. show less

I picked up this book because the Gov. of Iowa is trying to ban it. I just want to say that I LOVE that so many people are fighting this book. Each person that comes out against it, makes dozens more pick it up. So fight your fight Gov. Kim Reynolds, make this book a best seller for YEARS to come.

Because it deserves it. It deserves to be placed in the hands of ever lost teenager, every student that feels like they are alone and scared and has no idea what to do with all the feels they are experiencing. Had I had this book decades ago, it would have been life changing.

But you don't need to be that person to appreciate this book. It doesn't need to be written for you, to be able to sit back and listen to how someone experiences life. show more

Maybe if as a society, we stop one starring books because they don't represent us, and instead five star them because we learned something about life that we didn't know, we wouldn't still be fighting this same tired fight.

I cried so many times throughout this story, and am so thankful that George took the chance on writing this book. It spoke to me in ways I didn't expect, about being true to myself, and living the life that is authentically me. He laid out his trauma, fears and hopes in such raw honesty. I can't even fathom the courage it took to push the publish button on this one.

Read it. Even if you aren't apart of the LGBTQIA community, read it even if you don't think you could relate to it at all. Everyone's life story is worth telling. Slip into someone else's shoes and experience life from their point of view. It's worth the ride. show less

George M. Johnson wrote a book he wished he had when he was growing up Black and queer and dealing with double marginalization that it entailed. He was lucky because he was born into a Black middle-class family where "queerness ran in the family" and children were loved and accepted unconditionally despite them being different. Nevertheless, they lacked the vocabulary to speak openly about their differences and George's childhood and adolescence were rather lonely and closeted. He did have an amazing grandmother who was his best friend and filled in the gap as best as she could.

I really enjoyed reading about his childhood in Plainfield, New Jersey. The fraternity part in Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia was very show more interesting to read about, and I can understand how important it was for him to finally find his brotherhood, made up of half gay and half straight brothers; nevertheless I felt some reservations against all the rituals involved.

I have some issues with the structure and style of this young adult memoir-manifesto. There were some parts I would have liked to read more about and some parts I would have cut a bit. But that's not important. This is a book that is needed. This is a book that should be in every school library. As George wrote in the end: "Whether this book is a bestseller or a flop, if one person is helped by my story, then it was all worth it." show less