We Are Not Broken is a memoir by George Matthew Johnson, published in 2021. Johnson self-identifies as a queer Black American author. He is a writer of journalism, history, and fiction as well as an activist for both LGBTQ and Black American issues. This autobiographical effort is a follow-up to 2020’s All Boys Aren’t Blue which covers much of the same chronological period addressed in We Are Not Broken, but is fare more heavily invested in his sexual awakening. (And, hence, which caused it to become target for challenges by those opposed to its availability in some school libraries.) By contrast, this memoir is almost exclusively dedicated to growing up Black in America; more precisely, it is a love letter to the women—mostly his grandmother known as Nanny—who represents that powerful force which as staked its claim throughout African American history.
The text is primarily an overview of the childhood years of the author. In the previous tome, Johnson draws an allusion between the adventures of his childhood and the film Stand by Me. And, indeed, the adventures of young George and how his staunchest companions Garrett, Rasul and Rall were raised and guided by Nanny is in some ways an African American repurposing of every young white boy coming-of-age film ever made. Meaning that while some things will seems instantly familiar across all races, others are very much contained within that particular cultural experience.
Hanging like a specter over all the boys’ experiences are the life lessons sent their way through what the author terms “Nannyisms.” These are proverbial words of wisdom gained through experience by Nanny. Among the many examples which populate the book is her summing up the black experience: “Y’all are all y’all got,”
