Mixtape: A Memoir

A story about the sound and silence of survival, and the rhythms that carry us home.

In Mixtape: A Memoir, therapist and storyteller Johnzelle Anderson weaves a raw, lyrical portrait of resilience, identity, and healing.

Born to a disengaged West African father and a volatile white mother, Anderson grows up mixed race in 1990s Roanoke, Virginia—feeling like an outsider in every room. Amid childhood abuse, neglect, and racism, he clings to the safety of his grandmother’s love and his inner voice’s promise of a better future.

Told in tracks rather than chapters, Mixtape charts Anderson’s journey from trauma to triumph—from being body-shamed and silenced to building a career in mental health and forming a family of his own. Along the way, he confronts the legacy of generational pain, redefines his sense of belonging, and takes a life-changing trip to Ghana in search of the roots his father never shared.

Honest, at times humorous, and unflinching in its vulnerability, Mixtape: A Memoir is a coming-of-age story for anyone unlearning and daring to rewrite the soundtrack of their life.

©2026 Johnzelle Anderson (P)2026 Johnzelle Anderson

Great read!

This book showed me how naïve I was to think I understood what it’s like for all Black men growing up in the United States. I was born to two Black parents, and I assumed the one-drop rule automatically put us in the same boat. Author Johnzelle Anderson opened my eyes to a life of trauma I had rarely considered: being mixed-race in America while being raised by a racist white family. He was born in Virginia during the 1990s to an absent West African father and an abusive white American mother. Johnzelle caught hell from everyone: White people, Black people, teachers, police, family, everyone. I love that he doesn’t hold back. This coming-of-age memoir felt so honest that I had to put the book down a few times and ask myself, “Did he really just say that?” Johnzelle stays true to himself, which is what I loved most. The book is told as music tracks instead of traditional chapters, which I enjoyed. I also appreciated how he took all that trauma, turned it around, and now helps others deal with theirs.