11 year old Marley Diaz has launched a book drive #1000blackgirlsbooks seeking books for kids where the lead character is a young girl of color. Her project is a part of the GrassROOTS Community Foundation Super Camp for girls, which her mother, Janice helped to co-found.

Marley started this movement in reaction to the fact that all the books she was required to read for school were about white boys and dogs, hardly a fair representation of what children will relate to these days. Unintentional (we hope) biases like this can’t help but shape the world view and perception of what is important in young developing minds. If you only read about white boys, how can you not come to think that somehow they are the only ones who matter? And how would you not start to get bored and look around for something you more easily relate to?