---
title: "A Moment in Black History: Marley Dias"
description: Focusing on one Changemaker each week for Black History Month. This week is Marley Dias.
image: https://blog.congressionalschool.org/hubfs/andrea-cipriani-mecchi_slide-cf25996fe6f6940fa9fb4782d016c505ed7a7cdd-s1500-c85.jpeg
---
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## [Congressional School Blog](https://blog.congressionalschool.org/blog)
# A Moment in Black History: Marley Dias
Young People Who Were Change Makers
By: Edwin P. Gordon, PhD, Head of School
*Photo Credit: Andrea Cipriani Mecchi, Published by NPR*
**Who**
When Marley Dias was 11, she couldn’t keep her nose out of a book—but she was frustrated with reading story after story about boys that did not feature kids of color. In [an interview with NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/26/467969663/wheres-the-color-in-kids-lit-ask-the-girl-with-1-000-books-and-counting), Dias explained how that frustration inspired her to start the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign, aimed at finding 1,000 books with black girls as protagonists.
**What**
The [#1000BlackGirlBooks](https://twitter.com/search?q=%231000BlackGirlBooks&src=typed_query) campaign collects and donates books and works with educators to discover and promote more diversity in reading.
To date, Dias has collected over 9,000 books. She told Forbes, **“I’m working to create a space where it feels easy to include and imagine black girls and make black girls like me the main characters of our lives.”**
Marley Dias used her love of reading and determination to change the content of books for children. She is this week’s Black History Month’s Changemaker.
**Marley's Recommended Children's Books**
**Brown Girl Dreaming** *by Jacqueline Woodson*
Age level: Grades 6-8
**One Crazy Summer** *by Rita Williams-Garcia*
Age level: Grades 3-5
**President Of The Whole Fifth Grade** *by Sherri Winston*
Age Level: Grades 3-5
**Please, Baby, Please** *by Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson*
Age level: Ages 2-5
**Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry** *by Mildred D. Taylor*
Age level: Grades 5-8
---
.jpg?width=300&name=Edwin_About-Page%20(1).jpg)
**Edwin P. Gordon, PhD**
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