George M. Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of All Boys Aren’t Blue, is on a mission: to confront bigotry, create a better future, and forge a path so youth around the world can “be themselves unapologetically.” George was named to the 2022 TIME100 Next list for their compelling writing and activism. As TIME’s annual compilation of rising stars, the list honors 100 inspiring individuals and their “extraordinary efforts to shape our world—and to define our future.”
In TIME, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds writes that George is urgent, “because urgency implies spark and pulse. It connotes importance and immediacy, and in George’s case, a personal constitution that propels them toward the melee of hate and censorship, not to oxygenate the fearmongering, but to stand in the love they have for the children they serve through their writing and advocacy.”
In addition to their acclaimed young adult books, All Boys Aren’t Blue and We Are Not Broken, George is an award-winning journalist who has written for Vice, Teen Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, NBC, and more. They also advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, illuminating issues of racism, homophobia, and toxic masculinity, among others, and they’re an HIV activist who raises awareness about healthcare and social justice.
Watch George speak about how imagination frees us from oppression:
