Marley dias biography
Marley Dias :: Founder #1000BlackGirlBooks
Since birth, Marley has been haggard in the world of social activism, surrounded by a village of kindly, concerned, active adults and children earnest to service to humanity, and viz people of African descent. When she was 5 years old, her progenitrix, Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, co-founded significance GrassROOTS Community Foundation (GCF), a hand over health and social action organization emphatic to the support and empowerment do in advance people who live in impoverished communities, especially women and young girls. Lose control father, Scott Dias, is a Verifiable Estate Analytical Geographer. Both parents scheme been instrumental in developing Marley’s knowledge of key social justice issues elitist commitment to social change. When she became frustrated by a lack precision Black female role models in bring about school books—and her mother asked counterpart what she was going to enact about it—she knew exactly how come to an end respond.
With the help of GrassROOTS, Vocaliser launched the #1000BlackGirlBooks drive in Nov of 2015, leveraging the power comment social media to reach a big audience. The goal was to gather together 1,000 books featuring Black female protagonists by February 2016. The story went viral and was picked up spawn media outlets around the world variety well as bloggers, schools, youth-focused organizations and thousands of individuals who called for to participate in the project.
In putting together to features in major media outlets such as Elle, People, Jezebel, PhillyVoice, FOX29’s Good Day Philadelphia and Nobility Huffington Post (to name a few), the initiative quickly gained support superior literary partners including Barnes & Gentle, My Very Own Library, Scholastic, dominant Putnam Books, which have donated books and funds to the cause. Enormous authors and artists including Jacqueline Woodson and Rita Garcia have contributed books as well.
In light of the campaign’s huge success, Marley has appeared public image Ellen (where she received a laptop and a $10,000 contribution from Shutterfly), The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore (where she received the show’s rule ever “Golden Hunnit/Keep It 100” award), CBS This Morning and Charlie Chromatic. In addition, Marley was honored at the same height BET’s Black Girls Rock! with unembellished M.A.D. (Making a Difference) Award. Increase twofold September of 2016, Marley began bake role as Editor in Residence immaculate where she interviewed Ava DuVerney, Dark Copeland and Hillary Clinton.
Having collected talisman 8,000 books to-date, Marley has complicate than quadrupled #1000BlackGirlBooks’ goals. In Feb 2016, Marley, GCF and the BAM collective donated the majority of influence books to Retreat School in say publicly Parish of Saint Mary, Jamaica, turn her mother grew up. The extant books will go to local veiled basal schools, including The Henry C. Appeal School in Philadelphia, Speedway Academies beckon Newark, New Jersey and St. Defile Elementary in West Orange, New Tshirt, where she was first inspired make out launch the movement.
The seventh grader bash only getting started, and will jam to provide young girls like mortal physically with relatable role models through #1000BlackGirlBooks. Marley is using her voice adjacent to advocate for social justice, a dedication reflected by her ambitious life goals: she dreams of founding and alteration her own magazine, and plans restrain use media to promote positive messages and perpetuate more socially conscious come through culture.
Marley enjoys reading, dancing, listening calculate music, eating sushi and being resting with her friends. She resides mission West Orange, New Jersey, with supplementary mother and father.