
Set against a persistent, painful backdrop of police killings of Black men, the Johnson Chronicles is a bold, sensual, poetic, conversational ‘body memoir’ by American Book Award winner Peter J. Harris, who claims the uncensored spirit of the Vagina Monologues to create an oasis of sacred masculinity in which to present Truth and Tall Tales about first sex, size, fatherhood, intimate violence, and the impact of racism on the pleasure & pain of living with Johnson, the all-purpose African American euphemism for his penis.
Peter J. Harris, Writer, Director

WRITER’S NOTE: “Autobiography is Briar Patch – sometimes terror-tory…” Read more…
MYTHICAL JOHNSON: “It ain’t the physical I’m wrestling with…” Read more…
Peter J. Harris is a writer, producer, publisher, broadcaster, educator, and founding director of The Black Man of Happiness Project, a creative, intellectual and artistic exploration of Black men and joy. Harris has won the American Book Award (2015) & PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award (2015 & 1993). Since the 1970s, Harris has published his poetry, essays, and fiction in a wide range of national publications. With the JOHNSON CHRONICLES, adapted from his book of the same name, Harris continues his literary exploration of the lives of Black men. He has published essays about manhood and masculinity in anthologies edited by Charles Johnson, Terry McMillan, and Rebecca Walker, among others. His magazine, “Genetic Dancers: The Artistry Within African/American Fathers,” published during the 1980s, was the first magazine of its kind.
Terrell Tilford

LA Review of Books
Janice and Peter discuss the work’s transition from page to stage, reflect on the mythology surrounding the black male member and the role of that mythology in the ongoing de-humanization of African-Americans, and the challenges still facing artists presenting honest, intimate portraits of Black Americans.
Note: Peter J. Harris is fiscally sponsored by Unique Projects, Inc., a non-profit organization administered by Pentacle (DanceWorks, Inc).
Pentacle is a service organization for the performing arts. Mara Greenberg, Director, Ivan Sygoda, Founding Director,
75 Broad Street Suite 304, New York, NY 10004. 212/278-8111.
www.pentacle.org