All Boys Aren't Blue: Introduction

by George M. Johnson
In this unflinching memoir, George M. Johnson interweaves his personal history with reflections on systemic oppression.

Here are links to our lists for the memoir: Introduction, Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4
15 words 134 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gravitate
    move toward
    What if parents were also given instructions to nurture their baby by paying attention to what the child naturally gravitates toward and to simply feed those interests?
  2. aesthetic
    a philosophical theory as to what is beautiful
    I understand how this sense of normality doesn’t hold a space for those of us who don’t fit the aesthetic of what a boy or girl should be, or how a man or woman should perform.
  3. predominantly
    much greater in number or influence
    And LGBTQIAP+ people are not just fighting for the right to self-identify and be accepted in a society that is predominantly composed of two genders—which would be the bare minimum of acceptance.
  4. manifest
    reveal its presence or make an appearance
    Many of us carry burdens from the traumas of our past, and they manifest in our adulthood.
  5. manifesto
    a public declaration of intentions
    That’s where the manifesto part comes in.
  6. inflection
    the modification of pitch, tone, or volume when speaking
    We had different tones and inflections that could tell you the way the word was being used.
  7. lynch
    kill without legal sanction
    It was the last word heard by my people when they were lynched as a spectacle for white people.
  8. spectacle
    something or someone seen, especially a notable sight
    It was the last word heard by my people when they were lynched as a spectacle for white people.
  9. affluent
    having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value
    Seeing that it didn’t matter whether you were an affluent Black, a poor Black, a child, or an adult.
  10. spare
    save or relieve from an experience or action
    The fact that I couldn’t see my full self in Black heroes or the history books was more about the changing of history to spare white guilt than it ever was about me knowing the whole truth.
  11. sassy
    improperly forward or bold
    Those differences, like being effeminate and sassy, were constantly under attack my entire childhood from kids who didn’t even know why I needed to be shamed for those differences.
  12. inherently
    in an essential manner
    Most kids aren’t inherently mean. Their parents, however, can make them mean.
  13. viable
    capable of being done with means at hand
    Fighting for Blackness in a white space came naturally to me, though, and I did it every chance I got. Fighting for my queerness, however, never seemed to be a viable or safe option.
  14. snippet
    a small piece of anything
    I only saw snippets of queer representation in small television roles.
  15. immortalize
    make famous forever
    I want the words of my life story to be immortalized. I want to immortalize this narrative of joy and pain, this narrative of triumph and tragedy, this narrative of the Black queer experience that has been erased from the history books.
Created on Mon Jul 27 15:56:37 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Jul 27 16:39:47 EDT 2020)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.