Game Changers: Marley Dias and the #1000BlackGirlBooks
Summary
TLDRMarley Dias, a 14-year-old activist and founder of the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign, emphasizes the importance of diversity and representation in literature for empowering Black girls. Her campaign, which began at age 10, has grown into a global movement advocating for diverse curriculums and books featuring Black female characters. Marley shares her journey, advice for young activists, and highlights her book, 'Marley Dias Gets It Done and So Can You,' which encourages kids to use their passions to drive positive change. She also discusses her involvement with the Grassroots Community Foundation and its focus on empowering young Black girls.
Takeaways
- 📚 Marley Dyess is the founder of the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign, which focuses on increasing representation of Black girls in literature.
- 💪 She believes representation and diversity in books are essential for motivating children to read and feel connected to the characters.
- 🌍 The campaign has grown into a global movement, advocating for curriculums that represent diverse characters, especially Black girls.
- 📖 A resource guide with 1,000 books has been created to help people find and purchase diverse titles.
- 📝 Marley has written a book titled 'Marley Dyess Gets It Done and So Can You,' aimed at inspiring kids aged 10 and older to use their talents to create positive change.
- 🎬 Marley's friend Marsai Martin, an executive producer at a young age, has been a major supporter of the literacy tour and campaign.
- 👭 Her favorite book is 'Another Brooklyn' by Jacqueline Woodson, which she says encapsulates teenage friendship and has had a personal impact on her.
- 🎨 Marley encourages young girls to use their passions—whether in sports, arts, or other areas—to drive change and fight for justice.
- 🏆 She was named one of Time's 25 under 25, an achievement that she feels honored and excited about.
- 🌱 Marley’s work is supported by the Grassroots Community Foundation, which promotes the healthy development of girls, and they run programs like 'Super Camp' to teach leadership and empowerment.
Q & A
Who is Marley Dias?
-Marley Dias is a 14-year-old activist and the founder of the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign, which focuses on increasing diversity and representation in children's literature.
What is the main goal of the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign?
-The main goal of the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign is to ensure that Black girls can see themselves represented in books, which fosters motivation, confidence, and engagement in reading.
Why does Marley believe representation in books is important?
-Marley believes that representation is crucial because it allows children to relate to the characters and stories, which motivates them to read and feel more connected to their own experiences and identities.
How has the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign grown over the years?
-The campaign has grown from Marley’s personal initiative as a 10-year-old to a global movement, including a digital resource guide of over 1,000 diverse book titles, along with various collaborations and projects.
What advice does Marley give to younger girls?
-Marley advises younger girls to be open about their frustrations and use their passions—whether it’s sports, art, or other interests—as fuel to create positive change in the world.
Who does Marley Dias admire as a game changer and why?
-Marley admires Marsai Martin, the young executive producer of the movie 'Little,' for her trailblazing work in Hollywood and her involvement in literacy initiatives, including a tour with the Obama White House.
What is Marley’s favorite book and why?
-Marley's favorite book is 'Another Brooklyn' by Jacqueline Woodson because it explores themes of friendship and adolescence in a way that resonates deeply with her. She also has a personal connection to the author.
What is the Grassroots Community Foundation, and how has it influenced Marley?
-The Grassroots Community Foundation is a public health and social action organization founded by Marley’s mother. It focuses on empowering girls to grow into healthy women, and it has supported Marley in her activism.
What programs does the Grassroots Community Foundation offer for young girls?
-The foundation offers programs like Super Camp, which helps young Black girls develop leadership skills and learn about community, balance, and personal excellence, following ancient Egyptian principles.
What is the purpose of Marley's book, 'Marley Dias Gets It Done and So Can You'?
-Marley's book serves as a guide for children 10 years and older to use their passions and talents to create positive change. It covers her personal journey and offers practical advice on activism.
Outlines
📚 The 1,000 Black Girl Books Campaign
Marley Dyess, a 14-year-old founder of the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign, emphasizes the importance of representation and diversity in literature for children. She believes that seeing oneself in books fosters motivation to read and helps children relate to characters. The campaign has grown significantly over three years, starting from a personal desire for diverse books to leading a global movement advocating for inclusive curriculums. They have created a digital resource guide with a thousand book titles and published a book titled 'Marley Dyess gets it done and so can you'. Marley admires Marsai Martin for her work as an executive producer and her early support of the literacy tour. Marley's favorite book is 'Another Brooklyn' by Jacqueline Woodson, which she feels encapsulates the essence of teenage friendship. She encourages young girls to use their passions to fight for equity and justice, and she has been recognized by Time magazine's '25 under 25' list for her activism.
🌟 Empowering Black Girls through Leadership
Marley Dyess discusses the Grassroots Community Foundation and its Super Camp program, which focuses on developing leadership skills in young black girls. The program, founded by Marley's mother, teaches principles of Ma'at, an ancient Kemetic belief emphasizing balance, truth, order, and reciprocity. Over four weeks, girls learn to unlock their potential and develop 'black girl magic', or black girl excellence. Marley Dyess sees herself as a game changer and is committed to empowering black girls to become the best leaders they can be.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Representation
💡Diversity
💡1,000 Black Girl Books Campaign
💡Motivation
💡Activism
💡Curriculum
💡Resource Guide
💡Black Girl Magic
💡Grassroots Community Foundation
💡Super Camp
Highlights
Marley Dias is the founder of the 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign, which promotes diversity and representation in children's literature.
The campaign was started when Marley was just 10 years old, and it has grown into a global movement over the past three years.
Representation in books is important because it allows kids to connect with characters and feel motivated to read.
Lack of relatable characters can frustrate and demotivate children from reading.
Marley wanted Black girls to see themselves in books, which helps boost confidence, motivation, and pride in their own identities.
The 1,000 Black Girl Books campaign now includes a digital resource guide with a list of diverse book titles.
Marley published her own book, 'Marley Dias Gets It Done and So Can You,' which inspires young people to make a difference.
Marley highlights Marsai Martin, a teenage executive producer, as an inspiration for young girls of color.
Her favorite book is 'Another Brooklyn' by Jacqueline Woodson, which explores friendship and teenage experiences.
She encourages young girls to channel their frustrations into their passions to create positive change in the world.
Marley was named to the Time '25 Under 25' list, which was a significant and emotional moment for her.
The campaign aims to increase the number of books on its resource guide and develop an app to make these titles more accessible.
Marley's work is supported by the Grassroots Community Foundation, an organization co-founded by her mother, which focuses on the well-being of girls.
The Grassroots Community Foundation's 'Super Camp' program teaches leadership, community engagement, and cultural principles to young Black girls.
Marley emphasizes the concept of 'Black Girl Magic' and 'Black Girl Excellence' in her work, encouraging empowerment and leadership development.
Transcripts
hi I'm Marley Dyess I'm 14 years old and
I'm the founder of the 1,000 black girl
books campaign
I think representation and diversity in
books is really important because it
allows for kids to relate to characters
and feel motivated to read so when you
read a book you enjoy it because of the
storyline the plot and the ideas and if
a feel as though the ideas do not
connect to your story or experiences
they can frustrate you and D motivates
you to want to read so I really wanted
black girls to be able to see themselves
because of the power and confidence and
motivation it gives them to want to read
their stories more to live more
experiences and to be excited and
confident about their own identities the
1,000 black girl books campaign has
grown tremendously over the past you
know three years so far I have grown
from being a ten year old who is just
really excited to read and love books
and wanted to have more diverse books to
a person that has started to lead a
global movement about the need for
curriculums that represent diverse
characters specifically black girls so
we've gone digital we have a resource
guide that includes a thousand of the
titles we've collected so the people can
buy these books and I published a book
called Marley Dyess gets it done and so
can you in my opinion a game changer
right now is marseilles Martin she is an
executive producer of the movie little
that's coming out April 12th and she's a
friend of mine and she was actually one
of the original supporters of doing a
literacy tour where he went around
encouraging kids to read a in
collaboration with the Obama White House
so she is a huge friend of mine and I
think the work she's doing and being an
executive producer at 14 and at 15 is
just amazing and she's a wonderful
person to be around I think my favorite
book of all time is another Brooklyn by
Jacqueline Woodson I read it about two
summers ago and I think it really
encapsulates what friendship means as a
teenager and it's taught me a lot and I
consider Jacqueline Woodson a part of my
family and she supported the campaign so
much so reading a story that I really
connected to from a person that I really
loved is really special
[Music]
I think the biggest piece of advice I'm
able to give to younger girls is to be
open about their frustrations and to use
their passions as fuel for their greater
fights for equity or for change or for
justice so if you like basketball if you
like singing if you like painting use
those gifts and those talents to create
positive change in the world and that's
what I try to encourage with all kids
and especially with young black girls
being the youngest person on the x like
25 under 25 list this year has been so
amazing I literally cried my eyes out I
was like oh my gosh this is not real and
I'm so grateful to be on that list and
I'm thankful for time and I never
thought that was gonna happen but I in a
time interview a couple days before but
nobody told me what the interview was
for and then when I found out I was like
you guys are sneaky because I then I was
on the list and I just think it's
awesome and it's a huge platform to be
noticed by time and to get this there
support online so I'm just really happy
about it and it still makes me happy so
currently with regards to the 1,000
black girl books campaign we are working
on increasing the amount of books on the
resource guide where you can find these
titles and we're also working on
creating an app so we want to make sure
that these books that you can find
rather than they're on Amazon or at
their browser Noble or their
self-published you can still go and buy
them and support these authors that are
telling them stories that are important
to create a diversity and greater
education on the experiences of black
girls so Marlee Dyess gets it done and
so can you is a guide for kids 10 and
older to be able to use their gifts and
talents to make the world a better place
I talk about fashion I talk about going
to Ghana I talk about my family I talk
about the grassroots community
Foundation which is the foundation that
helped me start this work and I really
try to give you you know a mix of what
my life is but also a guide to becoming
an activist and being able to speak out
on things you feel passionate about
so the grassroots Community Foundation
is a public health and social action
organization and they're focused on
creating a world for all girls come grow
up to be healthy women so this is
founded by my mom and it's not just
because of my mom that I've been able to
do this work but because of a group of
amazing women and trailblazers that are
a part of grassroots and they've always
encouraged me to speak out on things I
feel passionate about and they have a
program called super camp for young
black girls in my area in New Jersey for
kids that are going into first grade
from kids that are leaving eighth grade
and we try to encourage them to learn
about leadership development their
community and they follow the principles
of mod Somyot
is an ancient Kemetic or ancient egypt
belief in which we believe a lot about
balance so truth order balance and
reciprocity so we teach over the course
of the four weeks about how they can use
these skills to become the best leaders
they can be and to unlock their
potential so a lot of it is about you
know developing this black girl magic we
talk about the black girl excellence and
grassroots and super camp has helped me
do that
I am Marley Dyess and I am a game
changer
[Music]
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