High Five
on storytelling, community, and being the main character.
Meet Marley Dias, the Gen Z founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks, on a mission to revolutionize storytelling and champion representation. What started as a quest for 1,000 books featuring Black female protagonists has blossomed into a movement, inspiring schools, organizations, and millions of individuals to reshape the narrative and see themselves as the main character. With over 13,000 books collected to-date, Marley is a force for change, advocating for diversity and inclusion in children’s literature.
Currently, Marley is a student at Harvard University and the Ambassador of National Education Association (NEA) Read Across America. She is also the author of Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You and has voiced her passion on prestigious platforms like the United State of Women, Forbes Power Women’s Summit, Girl Up, Inbound, CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Social Innovation Summit. Dedicated to rewriting the literary landscape, Marley is turning the page on representation to inspire more community, connection, and belonging for readers around the world.
As the founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks, collecting over 13,000 books featuring Black female protagonists, you have empowered countless individuals to see themselves as the central characters in their own stories. What does being the main character mean to you?
Being the main character means having access to literature and media that represents the reader’s experience. I started the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign after reading Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson in 5th grade. When I read her memoir, written in verse, it was the first time I felt seen, in all of my identity, in a story. Her story empowered me to use my words and begin to imagine a career as a writer, author, or journalist. The story of a shy Black girl, struggling with loneliness, anxiety, and learning to use her voice provided me with a mirror and a newfound confidence. The banning of books like these breaks my heart, because I know the power of Woodson’s words.
How has your dedication to this mission shaped your sense of belonging and connection within the community you’ve created and in the world as a whole?
My dedication to diversity and inclusion in children’s literature has deeply shaped my ability to form community through activism. Regardless of experience or belief, I’ve been able to use my story and desire to see myself represented in books to connect with educators and communities worldwide. Since I was 10, I’ve tried to use the need for diverse books as a call to action for systemic racism in classrooms which deprives students of their basic freedoms, particularly the freedom to be seen. I am honored to meet people from Ghana to Kentucky who are interested in dedicating themselves to this mission and slowly creating a more representative world.
My dedication to diversity and inclusion in children’s literature has deeply shaped my ability to form community through activism.
How do you see storytelling as a way to foster empathy, especially among young readers?
Storytelling is a powerful force to bring communities together. When Netflix reached out to me in 2020 interested in my thoughts on a read aloud series featuring Black authors, I was overjoyed that they resonated with the power of providing diverse stories to children, specifically during the pandemic as educational spaces were limited. That project turned into Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices, a NAACP-Image Award nominated and Emmy winning limited series featuring Lupita Nyong’o, Caleb McLaughlin, Tiffany Haddish, and myself along with many more. I am proud to have executive produced and hosted the show and was able to collaborate with Dr. Kevin Clark to develop a curriculum alongside the project with guiding questions for families. Bookmarks is one of my proudest examples of storytelling’s ability to unite.
As the Ambassador of National Education Association (NEA) Read Across America, you’ve spent a lot of time collaborating with educators and students. How has this experience influenced you as a leader?
Working with the National Education Association has taught me so much about the urgency of the book banning crisis in this country and allowed me to connect with educators who change the world classroom by classroom. Through NEA, I have had the opportunity to host their Human and Civil Rights Awards, which celebrate teachers that embody some of education’s greatest leaders and advocates. I always look forward to the night, as it reminds me of the power of education and the ability for one person’s act of kindness to lead to systemic change. Also, talking to authors like Jason Reynolds, Tracey Baptiste, and Jacqueline Woodson about the urgency for parents and caregivers to speak out against book banning in their educational centers and the need for diverse stories fuels my work as well. By having these conversations, which last on NEA’s YouTube channel for educators and families to use for free, I am able to share the need for diverse books to networks I would otherwise not have access to.
What are you most excited about for the future of representation in education?
I am most excited to see the next generation of storytellers that combine books, zines, digital media, podcasts, music, and film to create educational content. Education and literacy are tools for freedom, and I am excited to see how my generation’s technological savvy can create innovative solutions to urgent issues of educational inaccessibility. By creating free, accessible, and diversity — in both language and experience — based content, Gen Z has the power to extend their stories to communities that lack windows and mirrors into diverse stories.
Education and literacy are tools for freedom, and I am excited to see how my generation’s technological savvy can create innovative solutions to urgent issues of educational inaccessibility.
By Zehra Javed
Zehra Javed is the associate editor ofbrenebrown.com. With experience in social media management and new media, particularly TikTok, Zehra is passionate about using social media as a tool for connection. As a member of Generation Z, Zehra has grown up navigating between the physical and digital worlds. With one foot on grass and one foot online, she is constantly seeking a balance to integrate who we are in person and who we are onscreen so that we can be more connected than ever. Zehra holds a bachelor of science in industrial distribution, with minors in computer science and mathematics from Texas A&M University.
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