New Book From Author of All Boys Aren't Blue Hopes to Give LGBTQ+ Youth 'A Roadmap I Didn't Have' (Exclusive)

George M. Johnson, author of a memoir-manifesto for young people Not all boys are bluea new book is coming out, which they hope will give young people “a road map that I didn’t have”.

Their new book, Flamboyants: A Queer Harlem Renaissance I’d Like to Meet coming out in September from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In a series of essays and poetry accompanied by artwork by award-winning illustrator Charly Palmer, the book celebrates the iconic queer black writers, performers, and activists of the 1920s who shaped black American history.

‘Flamboyant’ cover illustrated by Charly Palmer.

Charlie Palmer

Johnson, whose first book is one of the most banned books in the country, was inspired in part by feedback from young readers to write this. “When I told my story and saw how so many people felt about seeing or hearing them for the first time in a book, it was a bittersweet moment, because I’m fine, books have been around for centuries, so when people still say, ‘ For the first time I feel that the book is coming to me’, that’s a lot to swallow,” they explain.

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Ethel Waters in ‘Flamboyants’.

Charlie Palmer

“But the other thing it pointed out to me is that we have stories of people from the past, who were also queer, and who were also complicated and nuanced, and they went through a lot of things,” Johnson continues. “And I realized that when they taught me about these people, they always left that part out.”

Josephine Baker in ‘Flamboyants’.

Charlie Palmer

The author wanted to show young readers — especially those who may have been told they were too loud, too flamboyant, or that their passion for art wasn’t worth a career — that there were people who came before them and had some of the same struggles.

Ma Rainey in ‘Flamboyants’.

Charlie Palmer

“In many ways, my heroes were stolen from me in many ways because I didn’t get to learn about them when I was 10 years old, and I know there was someone a hundred years ago who felt the same way I felt, or that I relate to or relate to “, explains the author. “This is for young adults who deserve to understand who these people are and explore worlds they didn’t know existed.”

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Gladys Bentley in ‘Flamboyants’.

Charlie Palmer

The author hopes that when young readers pick up the book, which features such greats as Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston and Ma Rainey, they will be inspired to do their own research. He also imagines that, like the cover of his first book, people will recreate some of Palmer’s vivid images in their own way.

“I say my words to Charley’s pictures, because the pictures in that book are as important as the book itself in many ways…that’s when the magic began,” they say. And the award-winning illustrator’s feelings are mutual.

Langston Hughes in ‘Flamboyants’.

Charlie Palmer

“George is confidence. George is beauty and I am truly inspired by their words and their presence,” Palmer said in a statement. “The people George wrote about were also my heroes and so it was a no-brainer to be a part of this; I’m honoured.”

But most of all, Johnson wants the Flamboyants to pave the way for kids who don’t have one or can’t see it from where they’re standing.

Jimmie Daniels in ‘Flamboyants’.

Charlie Palmer

“There were people before you who were just like you and had many of the same problems, struggles and crises,” they say. “And they paved the way for you so you don’t have to go through so many of the same things.”

Flamboyants: Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known is out on September 24th and is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education