A Girl Like Me: African-American Youngster Sets Out To Find 1,000 Relatable Books

[two_third padding=”0 30px 0 0px”]A Girl Like Me: African-American Youngster Sets Out To Find 1,000 Relatable Books
BY LORNA SHADDICK | CCTV

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] lack of diversity in children’s books sparked a journey for one 11-year-old African-American reader in the United States. She set out to find 1,000 ‘black girl books’. After an outpouring of support, she’s exceeded that goal.

Marley Dias may be only 11, but she’s already started a movement.

With the help of Instagram and the Twitter hashtag #1000blackgirlbooks she collected a thousand books with main characters she could relate to, and raised awareness of the need for more diversity in children’s literature.

“I think that African American kids should be in books,” 7-year-old Ameerah Anderson said. “I would like to see a girl like me.“

“Some children, they feel like they’re less of a person because of their skin color when that’s really not the case,” student volunteer Cyndia Dundee said. “If they saw more different kinds of diverse books with different girls and boys, maybe they wouldn’t feel that way.“

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Black people are doing great things in all fields though that’s not often the story we hear. That’s why I turn to black storytellers to make sure my son’s exposed to beautiful images and stories written by people and featuring characters who look us. Here are some black children’s illustrators and authors to add to your child’s bookshelf.

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