“Seeing yourself creates possibilities for yourself in your head, and not seeing yourself creates a question of worthiness.”
Myles Johnson, a 24-year-old Atlanta resident, is aiming to change the way black queer boys are represented in literature with his new children's book, Large Fears.
Photo courtesy of Myles Johnson
The book is about a young boy named Jeremiah Nebula who loves pink and wants to go to Mars. The author told BuzzFeed he wrote Jeremiah's character because he wanted to create something he didn't see see when he was growing up.
Photo courtesy of Myles Johnson
"I wanted to see a character that was me. I wanted to create a character that didn’t perform gender in the way black boys are traditionally seen doing on television. A male character that could grow up to love men," Johnson said.
"I wanted to create a world where femininity isn’t synonymous with being docile or fragile, and where masculinity isn’t synonymous with adventure and bravery. I wanted to blur the societal ideas of gender norms and expressions, so I created it," he continued.
Photo courtesy of Myles Johnson
It was important to the author to "introduce the idea of intersectional identities to children."
Photo courtesy of Myles Johnson
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This Children's Book Aims To Give Black Queer Boys A Voice