#1000BlackGirlBooks By Susan McLean

For your weekly dose of pint-sized rockstar, Bruised Knuckles would like to introduce you to Marley Dias. Dias is 11 and already much much cooler than we are. After getting bored with what she was reading, #1000BlackGirlBooks was born. 

“I told her I was sick of reading about white boys and dogs,” Dias said, pointing specifically to “Where the Red Fern Grows” and the “Shiloh” series. “‘What are you going to do about it?’ [my mom] asked. And I told her 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.” (from Philly Voice)

Representation is super important, and when Dias wasn't finding it, her quest was born. She aims to collect 1000 books where black females are the protagonists by February 1st. Her story has gone viral and I'm sure she's far beyond that by now. 

Oh yeah, did we mention this isn't even her first major project? She's worked with orphaned children in Ghana and Disney even gave her a grant. Are we allowed to #careergoals at an 11 year old? I think so...

Dias serves as a major inspiration to Bruised Knuckles (we'd love you to write for us <3) and we'd like to take her lead into 2016 and remember to note injustices and attempt to change them instead of letting them slide. 

Book and cash donations can be mailed here:

GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main Street, Suite 323, West Orange, NJ 07052

Note: Photo from Huff Post and not our own