An 11-year-old girl in New Jersey was tired of reading books without characters that she could relate to, so she decided to do something about it. Marley Dias has launched #1000BlackGirlBooks to promote books with Black female leads.
The campaign began when Marley shared her frustration regarding her school’s lack of reading material about Black girls. Philly Voice reports:
“I told her I was sick of reading about white boys and dogs,” Dias said, pointing specifically to “Where the Red Fern Grows” and the “Shiloh” series. “‘What are you going to do about it?’ [my mom] asked. And I told her I was going to start a book drive, and a specific book drive, where black girls are the main characters in the book and not background characters or minor characters.”
Marley’s goal is to collect one thousand books by February 1. She is reportedly halfway to her goal, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Moreover, this is not her first experience in giving back – this tween has fed orphans in Ghana and was awarded a grant from Disney.
To support her latest cause, cash and book donations can be sent to the following address:
GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main Street, Suite 323, West Orange, NJ 07052
For more, visit the fundraising website here.
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