Marley Dias

Marley Dias (born January 4, 2005) is an American activist and feminist. She launched a campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks in November 2015, when she was in middle school.

Marley Dias
Born (2005-01-04) January 4, 2005
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActivist, writer

Life

Marley Dias, named after reggae singer Bob Marley,[1] is of Jamaican and Cape Verdean descent. She was born in Philadelphia and grew up in New Jersey. When Dias was age 11, she complained to her mother that all of her mandatory readings were books about white boys and dogs. She said, "There wasn't really any freedom for me to read what I wanted."[2] After talking to her mother, Dias decided to start a book drive, #1000BlackGirlBooks, bringing more attention to literature featuring black female protagonists. She also ended up raising over 9,000 books. From all of her hard work and actions in activism, Dias was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List by age 15.

In 2017, Dias won Smithsonian Magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the Youth category.[3]

Campaign

Marley Dias' book drive focuses specifically on books in which black girls are the main characters, not minor or background characters. She launched a campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks in 2015, with the goal to collect 1,000 books to donate for black girls.[4] In just a few months, more than 9,000 books were collected. Many of these books have been sent to a children's book drive in Jamaica.[5] The campaign also called public attention to the lack of diversity in children's literature.

After the campaign

Dias, whose project has been popular all over the world, wrote and published her own book, Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!. Marley wants to show the children all over the world that their wishes or dreams can come true. Scholastic Corporation, a global children's publishing company, released the book in the spring of 2018.[6] Marley said, "I think writing gives me creative freedom. I love just being able to do whatever I want. When I create a story, I can make it however funny, sad, or happy I want it to be."

She has recommended several books for younger readers, including:[7]

  1. The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
  2. No Mirrors in My Nana's House by Ysaye Maria Barnwell
  3. Dear America: A Picture of Freedom by Patricia C. McKissack
  4. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
  5. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
  6. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Marley Dias appeared on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and as co-host of the Girls Can Do[8] program. She interviewed people like Misty Copeland, Ava DuVernay, and Hillary Clinton for Elle.com in her capacity as Editor of the online Elle-sponsored 'zine, Marley Mag.[9]

Books
  1. Marley Dias Gets it Done And So Can You, Marley Dias, 2019[10]
gollark: Would you not effectively have a CA halt if all cells hit their base state or somethīng?
gollark: It can run forever and produce no output if it's Turing-cōmplete.
gollark: Halting problem, remember?
gollark: Er, no, impossible.
gollark: Meaningful? Of course not.

References
  1. "11 Year Old Marley Dias Started A Book Drive 'Where Black Girls Are The Main Characters'". Vibe. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  2. "This Is Marley Dias. She's 11. And She's on a Mission to Change the Publishing Industry". ELLE. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  3. "2017 American Ingenuity Award Winners". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian.
  4. Anderson, Meg, "Where's The Color In Kids' Lit? Ask The Girl With 1,000 Books (And Counting)", NPR, February 26, 2016.
  5. McGrath, Maggie. "From Activist To Author: How 12-Year-Old Marley Dias Is Changing The Face Of Children's Literature". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  6. "Marley Dias, #1000BlackGirlBooks founder, gets book deal". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  7. "This Is Marley Dias. She's 11. And She's on a Mission to Change the Publishing Industry". ELLE. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  8. "Girls Can Do – Marley Dias". Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  9. Dias, Marley (2016-09-19). "Editor's Letter: A Note From Marley Dias". ELLE. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  10. Dias, Marley. "Marley Dias Gets it Done And So Can You". guardianbookshop.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  • "Marley Dias". northtexasteenbookfestival.com. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
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