Marley Dias and her mom, Karen Johnson Dias, at Edison on Feb. 9.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — Marley Dias, 11, has become an international media celebrity as the result of her #1000BlackGirlBooks project, created to collect and distribute books that represent young black females as main literary characters.
Over the past month, Marley has traveled across the United States, appeared on the news, in magazines like “People” and television shows like “Ellen.”
“The overwhelming response to Marley’s project has proven that #1000BlackGirlBooks shows the world that these books exist and that readers are hungry for them,” Jacqueline Woodson, author of “Brown Girl Dreaming,” told People magazine after Marley said it was one of her favorite books.
“It was overwhelming at first about being on TV and doing interviews,” Marley said in a release, “but I feel a lot better now because I know what I’m doing.
“I’m grateful that people are appreciative and it makes me happy to inspire others,” she continued.
The #1000BlackGirlsBooks project grew out of friendships Marley had formed with friends Briana Anderson, who recently moved to South Orange, and Amina Anekwe, who attends Edison Middle School with Marley.
“My friends told me I had to speak up about not having teen and young adult books about girls like us to read, because I was the least shy,” Marley said.
Janice Johnson Dias, Marley’s mother, had co-founded the GrassROOTS Community Foundation in 2010 with Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter of The Roots, a popular hip-hop band that also performs on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” The nonprofit organization’s mission is to assist women and girls to live healthier lives, regardless of race or economic standing.
Marley and her friends formulated their own project while attending the GrassRoots Community Foundation Super Camp — #1000BlackGirlBooks became one of its initiatives. To date, the project has surpassed 1,000 books and continues to receive books, even from overseas countries like Uganda, Australia, Portugal and France.
#1000BlackGirlBooks plans to donate 600 books to St. Cloud School — Marley’s alma mater — and Marley and her mother will meet with Nancy Mullin, the K-12 supervisor of career education and library science in the West Orange School District, to discuss the integration of more books that reflect young black girls into the curriculum.
“My mom always says it’s important to read because books express ideas and thoughts in words, and then that can help you to express yourself,” Marley said.
To find out more about the GrassROOTS Community Foundation, visit www.grassrootscommunityfoundation.org.
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