All Boys Aren't Blue

by George M. Johnson

I believe that the dominant society establishes an idea of what “normal” is simply to suppress differences, which means that any of us who fall outside of their “normal” will eventually be oppressed.

That being different didn’t mean something was wrong with me, but that something was wrong with my cultural environment, which forced me to live my life as something I wasn’t.

Agency—a word I didn’t know when I was that young—is a guiding principle that I wish we taught young kids about more. Rather than saying, “You are wearing this,” I hope more adults will ask, “What would you like to wear?”

Microaggression is the academic term for what I was experiencing. Simply put, it’s when a person insults or diminishes you based solely on the marginalized group you are in. It’s called “micro” because that person isn’t outright calling you a n**** or a fa* or both. Instead, they’re calling attention to your differences in a low-key way. At times it can seem almost innocent or naïve, but make no mistake, these small things become big over time.

“The first person you are ever an activist for is yourself.” If I wasn’t gonna fight for me, who else was?