Marley Dias, age 11, is an inspiration!  When she got frustrated by the lack of diversity in her school’s required reading, she did something about it. One evening at dinner, she spoke to her mom about her frustration.  “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. Dias’ activist mother helped her realize that she could do something about it. Marley told her mother that she was “going to start a book drive, and a specific book drive, where black girls are the main characters in the book and not the background characters or minor characters.”

Photo of Marley Dias, from Janice Dias for The Philly Voice

Quotes and information from: Philly Voice interview.

To hear Marley talk about her campaign, listen to her wonderful interview on National Public Radio.

For further information or to contribute to her campaign, visit her website: http://welovebam.com/1000-black-girl-books/