Best-selling author George M. Johnson to visit DePaul next week

George M. Johnson, whose critically acclaimed memoir "All Boys Aren't Blue" has been routinely targeted for removal from school and public libraries, will visit DePaul next month to read from and talk about their book.

Johnson will also discuss with a panel of faculty, staff and students the current wave of book censorship in the United States, including how it focuses primarily on books about race, gender and sexuality.

The event, titled "Black, Queer, Here: American Book Banning and George Johnson's 'All Boys Aren't Blue,' " will take place Thursday, March 2, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Schmitt Academic Center, Room 154. It will also be streamed on Zoom for those who register in advance.

Panelists will include:

• Heather Montes-Ireland, an assistant professor of women's and gender studies, critical ethnic studies, and Latin American and Latino studies;
• Macky Sahelu, an undergraduate and a student staff member of the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center;
• Lauren Roundtree, a graduate student in the Department of Women and Gender Studies; and
• Heather Jagman, a DePaul librarian and president of the Illinois Library Association.

"Black, Queer, Here" is presented by the LGBTQ Studies Program at DePaul in association with the Department of English. Co-hosts include the Program in American Studies; the Center for Latino Research; the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; the College of Communication; the School of Continuing and Professional Studies; the Critical Ethnic Studies Program; the DePaul University Library; the University Honors Program; the DePaul Humanities Center; the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center; the Department of Women and Gender Studies; the Women's Center; and the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse.

This event is also made possible by support from a Diversity and Inclusion Initiative Grant from the Office of Academic Affairs and a Vincentian Endowment Fund Discretionary Grant from the Division of Mission and Ministry.