Florida Sentinel Bulletin

   Marley Dias, 11, is collecting books that feature Black girls.

NEW JERSEY — Marley Dias has turned her fifth grade frustrations into a solution that Black girls all over the world can benefit from.

Dias, an 11-year-old girl from New Jersey, told her mother one night over dinner that she was tired of all the books about “white boys and dogs” she was assigned to read in fifth grade. “She told me what are you gonna do about it, and I told her I should start a book drive,” Dias said in a recent interview.  “I want to start a book drive where Black girls are the main characters and that’s really how it came to be,” Dias said of her vision’s beginnings.

The book drive launched simply on Facebook with a photo of Dias holding a copy of Mildred D. Taylor’s classic, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and a call for books of any title or age group featuring Black girls.

The initiative is part of Dias’ yearly social action commitment as a member of the GrassROOTS Community Foundation Super Camp for girls. GrassRoots was co-founded in Philly by her mother, Janice, and Tariq Trotter, better known as super MC Black Thought of The Roots.