We are Not Broken is a memoir by writer George M. Johnson that focuses on his childhood experiences with a brother and two cousins. The book opens by introducing the writer, his little brother Garrett, and the two cousins, Lil’ Rall and Rasul. The very first words of the opening chapter, however, are presented as a “Nannyism.” This is reference to the significant influence over the family wielded by his maternal grandmother, affectionately known as Nanny, in her big yellow house in Plainfield, New Jersey a town covering just six square miles.
The introduction to what kind of person Nanny is occurs in that opening chapter when she confronts a woman who “called me a bitch” with the “longest-barreled gun” some had ever seen. From this point forward, Nanny is unquestionably the wise, strong, and tough but tender matriarch putting her family above everything. She and the author develop a very close bond which will be touched upon throughout the book. The book is also peppered with more of her “Nannyism” which are nuggets of her wisdom offered in proverbial form.
Nanny becomes the presiding influence over the author and his brother in part because both their parents worked full-time and were often not available to look out for them. As a result, the book is highly focused on the weekends spent at the big yellow house. This focus ranges from how baths for four boys could be arranged and chores divided equally to the ways and means in which Nanny dealt out punishment to the boys when they did wrong or got into trouble. Such punishment often resulted from the fact that the two cousins, Rall and Rasul often “fought like cats and dogs” with each other. Ultimately, the punishment is characterized as “tough love” by the author.
The bulk of the book is comprised of highly detailed recollections of events that took place in the life of the boys when they children. For instance, there is the recollection of the first time they got to shoot a gun at the instruction of an Uncle. An entire chapter is devoted to the ritual of going to the barbershop and getting a haircut with the understanding that the actual cutting of hair becomes secondary to the barbershop as a place for men to swap stories and how it becomes an integral part of the maturation into manhood processing. As with much of the story, this reality of the situation plays into the underlying story of the author coming to grips with understanding and accepting his self-described queerness.
In addition to describing events from the perspective how they shaped the author’s sexual orientation, there are also stories that reveal the reality of systemic racism which he and his family must deal with on an almost daily basis. One such episode involves Rasul being accused of stealing. Once again, it is Nanny’s fierceness which is put front and center on display as she becomes the towering force that deals with the racist implications at the heart of the accusation.
From bonding over family cookouts to the inevitable changes in family dynamics due to evolutions in economic circumstances, the overarching theme which is always touched upon is the vital and essential quality of families looking out for each other. The narrative is interrupted at certain points throughout with letters of thanks and appreciation from the boys directed to Nanny. Actions and activities related to family dynamics taking place during holidays like Thanksgiving or rituals like weddings all become part of the fabric tying together this emphasis upon familiar support. It is precisely this question of support which comes to the forefront at the point at which adolescence and sexuality begin to occupy the thoughts and actions of the boys, especially the author in the confusing odyssey of coming to terms with not following the expected route of heterosexual development.
This section of the book adds the traditional roles of learning to drive and dating rituals into the mix. This is also the point at which an important new cousin enters the narrative. Lil’ Kevin is viewed as the life of the party but also falls under suspicion because it is thought by many in the family that he may possibly be gay. By the time Kevin is fully out about his sexual orientation, he is also quite the fighter. One night he is beating up some soldiers who get upset about being bested by a homosexual. One of them winds up shooting Kevin to death.
The church is also a significant player in the lives of the children, especially due to the heavy involvement of Nanny with her AME worship. It is the religious faith that helps to keep the family going through the toughest period of their lives: when Nanny must undergo brain surgery and things do not turn out as hoped. Although surviving the surgery, she requires constant attention afterward which puts a strain on the emotional bond within the author’s immediate relatives. When the movie Soul Food opens in the mid-90s, the author cannot help but recognize the parallel between its plot of a family matriarch passing away and his own true-life story of Nanny. Ultimately, Nanny passes away just two days after the author started writing this very memoir.
