All Boys Aren't Blue

by George M. Johnson

books don’t stand still in time. Instead, they ensure that what happened in the past is recorded for the future.

They won’t ban assault weapons to protect you, but they will ban books.

Ain’t no American history without Black history.

Ain’t no America without qu...

I now know exactly what my heroes were thinking when they made history. They were thinking about living. About how to pay the bills. About what would be for lunch or for dinner that day. About the next speech, or book, or where they would find a couch to lie on and have some shelter for the night.

Seeing the killing of Black children like Tamir Rice at the hands of police.

Cleveland

This is the story of George Matthew Johnson. This is a story for us all.

Any community that has been taught that anyone not “straight” is dangerous, is in itself a danger to LGBTQIAP+ people.

It’s time for the world to let queer Black boys unpack their shit. Smile, Black boys.

Nanny was old school. She liked to make sure she saw you before giving you instructions.

On that day, George Matthew Johnson entered the world, but Matthew Johnson left that hospital.

I really don't understand why this had to be some big secret. isn't it on all his legal paperwork, didn't they ever call him George at the doctor's? My entire family goes by their middle names. there is absolutely a child friendly version of this story to be told. Unless George was actually his father, I am totally baffled by this.

This is about identity. This is about culture and how it dictates what is a “good” and “bad” name, especially in the Black community.

when our parents choose a name that we as children are uncomfortable with, we have the right to change it.

I bet most of you never thought to ever question if you even like your name.

I was literally just sitting here thinking about whether I like my name and what part it plays in my identity.

There was one closet that stored our toys and most of my grandmother’s clothing—the one who lived in Virginia—from the past thirty years.

However, a lot of this history has been erased from those who identify as queer, which has allowed the notion that queer culture comes from emulating Black cishet women to spread. But it’s not true.

I wish we could get more about this aspect here, a few paragraphs of research on the history/ origins of queer lingo.

I realized the only place that was truly safe for me would be in my imagination.

walking away from the altercation was seen as a sign of weakness and admission that you were, in fact, gay.

balancing those traditionally feminine qualities and measuring my safety as we got older.

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.

I did those things with my cousins because it was fun, and I enjoyed them—never out of pressure.

El wanted to get a football to take it to school to play with the boys in his class. I am now wondering whether he is finding joy in playing with friends or just seeking a way to fit in with others.

Although I eventually learned to like playing those sports, I felt a deep sadness the day I stopped jumping rope. It was the moment I realized that safety trumped satisfaction, even as a kid.

:( I don't want this for my sons

I can be good at football and double Dutch. I am actually still very good at football and double Dutch. But most importantly, I’m not bound by either of them. You don’t have to be either.

Black children being taught by predominantly white staff.

We had a minimal number of Black teachers, but Black folks were always the janitors, lunch ladies, and secretaries,

*takes deep breath* What it doesn’t show is that the Pilgrims stole the American Indians’ food when they first arrived on the Mayflower, because they weren’t prepared for winter. And many American Indians died from the diseases brought by white settlers. “Peace” was often a survival tactic. *exhales*

I love the conversational style of this book, but again I wish for a bit a research added in here. where are my footnotes or citations lol

American history is truly the greatest fable ever written.

“Listen up closely and you will hear, the meaning of the story of Paul Revere.”

omg this is amazing. proto-Hamilton lol

The statements that explained why we needed Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and every other Black activist over a hundred years later, because freeing the slaves didn’t really free us.

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.

yes, he was certainly a pragmatism, not an idealist.

the impact matters more than the intent.

It is not okay for you as a teacher to say that you would have had slaves.”

I respect that teacher's self-awareness because I think many white people are in denial about that possibility. But this was not the correct venue for that bit of truth.

Knowledge is truly your sharpest weapon in a world hell-bent on telling you stories that are simply not true.

buy us all new sneakers before we went to Disneyland the next day.

So they're all getting blisters? ;)

I often think about what it would be like if the world existed with a “Nanny” in each family.

Tell folks, especially those who are non-queer and non-Black, to “Make it Better.” Something getting better doesn’t happen without action,

after Dominique Dawes, the gymnast I wished I were.

Yes! My fav

my identity as queer. A label that is most encompassing of all that I am and hope to be.

There would be no book without you.

<3 Nanny

Who taught you about sex in a way that you weren’t ready to understand—in a way that made you think I needed to get it firsthand from you, so I would know who not to trust?”

was September 11, 2001, the first day of my junior year of high school.

Lovers? Eh, you never know.

now we're invested! lol

Notice my confusion in how strong I was in some moments and how weak I was in others, because that is what coming out truly is. It is not a final thing. It’s something that is ever occurring. You are always having to come out somewhere. Every new job. Every new city you live in. Every new person you meet, you are likely having to explain your identity.

We weren’t allowed in white Greek fraternities and sororities, so we not only created our own but made it our own, too.

again wishing for more info here. further reading?

those three months we were on line together (back then you could say that, now you have to say “membership intake process”).

lol like PNM instead of pledge or whatever

The CDC has already stated that 50 percent of Black men who have sex with men will contract HIV over their lifetime.

😱that is an insane stat

Will this part of my story be met with pushback? Absolutely. But I’ll be damned if I don’t tell it because of fear. My greatest fear is that queer teens will be left to trial and error in their sexual experience. It’s worth me feeling a little embarrassed so that you all are a bit more prepared.

honestly, I think this would have been a useful chapter for me as a straight teenager. the actual mechanics of gay sex were a mystery to me and I feel like this kind of factual, human account would have gone a long way to dispelling any sense of disgust/confusion left over from Catholic school

I don’t care about that. You my brother and I’m a always have your back.”

<3

“You never truly get over death. It just gets easier to live with each day.”

Thank you to my book agent, Eric Smith.