Where’s My Story?

Marley Dias was fed up. The fifth-grader had just been given a school assignment to read yet another book that didn’t feature any black girls. Marley had plenty of books with diverse characters at home, but those stories weren’t being taught at her school. 

Marley complained to her mom that having so little in common with the characters in her assigned books made it difficult to learn from their stories.

To that, her mom simply replied: “What are you going to do about it?” 

Marley, who lives in West Orange, New Jersey, accepted the challenge. She set a goal to collect 1,000 books featuring black girls as the main characters and donate them to schools and libraries.

“It is important that kids see themselves in books so they can understand themselves and their possibilities,” says Marley, now 12. Assigning diverse books in school is also critical, she says, “because sometimes communities are not diverse, and books can give us insight into other people’s experiences.”

Marley had identified a problem that the publishing industry has wrestled with for years. Despite the increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the United States, the vast majority of main characters in children’s literature are white. Many authors and educators have spoken about the need for books that reflect all readers. 

“Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity,” the late children’s book author Walter Dean Myers wrote in 2014. “What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?

Marley started her project in the fall of 2015 by posting on Facebook a picture of herself reading one of her favorite books, Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. She even came up with a catchy hashtag: #1000blackgirlbooks. 

“I knew that social media was the best way to reach people all over the world,” she says.

At first, her effort didn’t generate many responses. Then a local newspaper learned of her mission and published an article about it. Soon, reporters from all over the country were writing about Marley.  

Donations began pouring in. So far, Marley has gathered more than 8,500 books for schools and libraries in the U.S., Jamaica, and Haiti.

These days, the seventh-grader has a new goal: to collect and donate 10,000 books. She also plans to develop a program that helps teachers share diverse stories with their students.

Marley, who wants to be an author someday, hopes she inspires kids who feel strongly about any issue to act. 

“If you feel like something is wrong, you can create change by using your voice,” she says. “If you are passionate about something, anything can happen.”

To donate to #1000blackgirlbooks or see the books Marley has collected, visit grassrootscommunityfoundation.org.