MARLEY DIAS
Exceptional black girl magic has graced our society affirming powerful sprinkles of inspiration to the world, one book at a time. Her name is Marley Dias. In fifth grade (2015) she was required to read books like ‘Shiloh,’ 'Old Yeller’ and ‘Where the Red Ferns Grow.’ All of these books were about little white boys with dogs. Marley was starving and thirsting to see images in books where little black girls were the major and not the minor characters. She was not alone. In her proactive efforts to feed her hunger; making black girls as the main character, she launched her campaign for #1000BlackGirlBooks and to her surprise she received an overwhelming support of 11,000 books. Marley Dias fantasticated her love for literacy making history.
Some of you probably don’t recall or never had any books as a child that had black girls as the main characters. Thanks to Marley Dias going around that tough terrain mountain; trailblazing her way to make #1000BlackGirlBooks the main characters in the hearts of black girls and children everywhere, it has changed. I encourage all educators, especially those who work as teachers in black communities to ensure having a selection of books where black girls and children are the main characters. I mean, why not! It is imperative to have healthy representations of black children as the main characters in books where they can make connections to characters that is about them! It is not equivalent if all of the black and brown kids are only reading books about everyone and everything else with them being absent. It is crucial to know the background and culture you educate.
Some of you probably don’t recall or never had any books as a child that had black girls as the main characters. Thanks to Marley Dias going around that tough terrain mountain; trailblazing her way to make #1000BlackGirlBooks the main characters in the hearts of black girls and children everywhere, it has changed. I encourage all educators, especially those who work as teachers in black communities to ensure having a selection of books where black girls and children are the main characters. I mean, why not! It is imperative to have healthy representations of black children as the main characters in books where they can make connections to characters that is about them! It is not equivalent if all of the black and brown kids are only reading books about everyone and everything else with them being absent. It is crucial to know the background and culture you educate.
Marley Dias has the recipe we all need to use. If you don’t like something then change it. She didn’t like reading about white boys and dogs all the time. She wanted to see reflections of herself in story elements so she did something about it. Marley Dias is a Sancti-Fly Mama who has lifted the ban on excluding black girls as the main character and given hope to a culture of diversity inside and outside of the classroom. She was only 10 years old when she started on her mission to make black girls the main characters in books but ain’t no stopping her now. At the compassionate age of 13 this Power-Pretty little mama has written her own book. What is it that you don’t like and want changed?
