All Boys Aren't Blue

In the Afterword, Johnson ties the themes of the memoir to its title. Blueness refers to both the traditional color for boys and to the film Moonlight, itself about queer youth. The multiple meanings of “blue” tie together queer identity and Black identity to make them inseparable from Johnson’s perspective. The color also lets Johnson position themself against their father’s profession as a police officer. Though Johnson does not touch on it frequently, the presence of police brutality lurks in the background of their childhood. For example, Johnson mentions Rodney King, who was beaten by LA police in 1991 (sparking riots in response), as an example of what happens to Black people at the hands of police. Johnson’s father, despite being a cop, cannot protect them from this brutality.

The Afterword is where Johnson solidifies their purpose for writing the memoir. “There were no books for me to read in order to understand what I was going through as a kid. There were no heroes or icons to look up to and emulate” (172), they write, illustrating to readers that every story in the memoir is a result of stumbling toward their identity. Johnson wishes to help a younger generation of queer, and especially Black, readers learn from their mistakes. As Johnson explains, queer and Black youth, who are doubly marginalized, lack the role models and societal understanding that their cisgender and heterosexual white peers enjoy. Johnson asserts that this generation is the one to change how things have been for queer youth and suggests that this begins by telling stories of growing up queer. Although several school boards have banned Johnson’s book, there has been massive pushback against this censorship. In the past, Johnson’s book likely never would have been published. The existence of the memoir and its popularity are evidence of the change Johnson hopes for.