Tired of reading about 'white boys and dogs', 11-year-old girl starts book drive campaign

Syafique Shuib
January 27, 2016 20:22 MYT

Marley Diass (pix) campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks is set on a mission to collect and donate books in which black girls are the main characters. -Pix from Twitter/Entertainment Weekly

AN 11-year-old girl started a literary movement as she was sick of “reading about white boys and dogs."

As reported by Mashable, Marley Dias’s campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks is set on a mission to collect and donate books in which black girls are the main characters.

"I was sick of reading about white boys and dogs. And I told (my mom) I was going to start a book drive, and a specific book drive, where black girls are the main characters in the book and not background characters or minor characters," Dias told the Philly Voice, as quoted by Mashable.

The campaign aims to collect 1,000 books by February 11.

Twitter is already buzzing with this campaign, as netizens snapped photos of books they have donated.

I just contributed these 4 books to #1000BlackGirlBooks Happy reading :) https://t.co/emRNBzzV3v pic.twitter.com/5Etdf8iHYS
— Emily Lakdawalla (@elakdawalla) January 27, 2016

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

Here's what I'm contributing to #1000BlackGirlBooks. I loved Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry so much when I was young. pic.twitter.com/7iw6UKz7i3
— Laura Seay (@texasinafrica) January 27, 2016

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

#1000BlackGirlBooks Drive Is Here to Counter Books About White Boys and Dogs https://t.co/IZFic76Q4k pic.twitter.com/xi6u61JwEb
— Electric Literature (@ElectricLit) January 27, 2016

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

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Thank you for investing in girls. #1000BlackGirlBooks #400moretogo @blackthought @MaxwellDreamer @blackdoctor pic.twitter.com/VTE9WBKgc7
— GrassROOTS (GCF) (@GrassRootsFound) January 25, 2016

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

I'm sending PRISCILLA & THE HOLLYHOCKS to #1000BlackGirlBooks to celebrate Priscilla's resilience & courage. pic.twitter.com/51vj054UdF
— Anne Broyles (@BroylesAnne) January 21, 2016

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

In other news, this campaign coincidentally came about as Hollywood faces #OscarsSoWhite backlash over lack of diversity.

Last week, Will Smith has confirmed that he will be joining his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, in not attending the Academy Awards on February 28.

##1000BlackGirlBooks ##OscarsSoWhite #literary campaign #Marley Dias #reading about white boys and dogs

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