Marley Dias Bio, Facts, & Activism

Since 2015, Marley Dias has worked towards racial justice, wrote a book, and hosted a children's Netflix series, but she's only 15 years old. Dias's activism started at ten years old when she came home from school complaining about English class, she explains in an interview for Family Action Network. She liked the teacher and the course, but she was tired of the books he assigned his students. They all seemed to be about the same person--some White boy and his dog. She wanted to read about characters she identified with. It was her mom's response that sparked her activism.

Dr. Janice Johnson Dias (Marley's Mom)

Marley Dias was born into a family of amazing women. According to the GrassROOTS Community Foundation website, Janice Johnson Dias, her mother, holds a Ph.D. in sociology and a post-doctorate from the poverty center at the University of Michigan. She is the president of the GrassROOTS organization. She has won a Congressional Medal of Honor for her work in Long Island on Black girls' mental, sexual and physical health issues. When her daughter came home complaining about the English curriculum, she just shrugged.

Johnson Dias pointed out that she could read what she wanted, and that it was her daughter who didn't like the books. "So what are you going to do about it?" she asked. That got Marley thinking. She came up with a plan.

#1000BlackGirlBooks

Dias decided to organize a drive to collect 1000 books with Black girls as the main characters. Her mother pledged to help her. They would donate the collection to her mother's school in Jamaica. With just two weeks left until her set deadline, she had collected only 200 books. She was feeling pretty down. Again, her parents' support helped her.

They encouraged her to keep trying, but also stay realistic. Dias's mother and father said that she might not reach her goal, but they would still travel with her to Jamaica to turn the books over to the school she had selected. Her drive picked up when she appeared on the Ellen Show and other local Philadelphia news sources. Since then, she's managed to add 11,000 books to her collection.

Marley Dias Gets It Done (and So Can You).

In an interview on The View, Marley Dias describes her book, Marley Dias Gets It Done (and So Can You). It is about inspiring other young adults to become activists in their communities. She encourages her peers to educate themselves and find their passions. She said it was easy for her since she knew that she loved reading at a young age and that she used that to impact her community. Education, she says, is learning about the helpers in one's community--librarians, mailmen, and teachers. Then, young people should take steps to assist them.

Dias also talks about what it means to be an "upstander." She says that it's the opposite of a bystander--someone who stands and watches while another young person is bullied. She says it's more than just standing up for the victim. It means talking to the bully, finding out why he or she is mean, and helping educate the person to prevent future bullying. She wants everyone to learn to be kinder to each other.

When one of the hosts asks her how she can encourage her children to read more, Dias answers that kids and parents should read together. She says that kids should get to choose the book. Parents should never use reading as a punishment. Finally, families can try watching the movie version first and then read the book together.

Inspirations For Marely Dias

On CBS This Morning, Dias explains that one of her inspirations is Augusta Baker, a woman who was a librarian in New York City's Public Libraries for 37 years. Baker worked to provide various narratives through books, allowing all different groups of people to have voices. She was born in the 1940s and lived when segregation was still legal in the U.S.

Dias had never heard of this woman when she started her campaign, but their goals were similar. The teen says that she wanted to create a world where all people have voices, whether they're Black, white, Pacific South Islanders, Latinxs, people with disabilities, or anyone. She says it's not about pushing one group out so another can be heard, but instead creating a safe space in which everyone has a chance to express themselves and be listened to.

Marely Dias Hosts Bookmarks

Marley Dias's newest project is a children's series. She hosts and produces Netflix's Bookmarks. Some have described the show as a modern Reading Rainbow. In each episode, Dias introduces a children's book. Then Black celebrities like Misty Copland and Lupita Nyong' o read the story and lead a discussion about the message in each one.

What's Marley's next move going to be? We don't know, but she's sure to continue doing big things to make the world a better place. It'll probably have something to do with books. We'll be busy working our way through her #1000BlackGirlBooks list in the meantime.

Sources: CBS This Morning, View, Good Morning America, Family Action Network, GrassROOTS Community Foundation