All Boys Aren't Blue

Content Warning: The Afterword references police brutality and racism.

In the Afterword, Johnson reflects on Kenny’s death, graduating college, and the life path before them as a young Black and queer adult. Johnson explains the title of the memoir, saying that the color blue represents many things. It symbolizes the traditional gender roles assigned to boys. Blue also refers to the color of police uniforms, which Johnson’s father wore in his career as a cop. Blue also refers to the film Moonlight (2016), itself based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Both works of art are coming-of-age dramas about queer Black youths.