Friday, February 12, 2016

11 Year Old Reaches Goal And Collects 1,000 Books For Black Girls


Marley Dias is the definition of goals.
Back in November, the 11 year old started an initiative to collect 1,000 books featuring girls of color who were the main character. She told her mother she was tired of reading the books at her school in St. Cloud Elementary in West Orange, N.J. Unwilling to simply let her daughter complain, she challenged Marley to
do something about it.

Marley then began her book drive in which she set out to collect 1,000 books where black girls like her are the protagonist. After a few short weeks, the young entrepreneur announced Wednesday (February 10) on the The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore she reached her goal and would donate some books to her school and a school in her mother’s native country of St, Mary, Jamaica.
“I started this because in my fifth-grade class I was only able to read books about white boys and their dogs. I understood that my teacher could connect with those characters, so he asked us to read those books. But I didn’t relate to them, so I didn’t learn lessons from those stories,” Dias told The Guardian.
The hashtag #1000BlackGirlBook soon took off on social media and Marley then began to receive donations from Barnes & Nobles and Stacked Books. Although Marley has reached her goal, she intends to continue collecting books and donating books to schools across New Jersey.
Super dope.

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