Young Activism

I regularly have conversations with my literature students about the importance of identities in writing.  In our course that focuses on British works, we talk about the voices and experiences that are included, as well as those that are excluded - in our anthology,  most of the authors are white, and a majority are male.  History and context matter when we think about literary productions and why so many writers of color are not included in these collections.

With these discussions fresh on my mind, I read about a young activist who is working to ensure that books that contain the stories about young Black girls are included.  Marley Dias, who is 11 years old and lives in New Jersey, started a book drive when she noticed that all the books she was exposed to in the 5th grade were written from the perspective of white male narrators.  She was not seeing herself in any of these texts.  Her goal is to collect one thousand books that contain young Black girls as central characters.

It is encouraging to see her activism, as well as the response to Marley's project and to hear folks talking about the importance of literature that reflects identities and experiences, particularly for young kids.  It's not just the college-level British literature course that requires critiquing, but certainly children's literature as well.

#1000blackgirlbooks

Marley Dias