MARLEY DIAS

Girls of color and young women need to be seen, heard, and valued. Schools can help make this happen by including our stories in the curriculum.

It's important to read books and see people who look like you. It helps you know that you are not the only one or the weird one because you're a black girl and you are not seeing anyone who looks like you in these books.

I believe that feminism needs to teach more girls about how to make institutional changes and how to further engage men and boys into being our allies.

I like NPR's podcasts because I can listen to those on the bus.

I think it is important to speak your mind. Tolerance of the ignorance sends the wrong message to kids.

I want other kids to see the joy in reading and literacy and how, if you read about things, they become so much closer, and if you're willing to put in the effort and time and passion, you can really understand them.

My goal for the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign is to create systemic change across all school systems. I want there to be diverse books that reflect the lives of every person, regardless of whether or not they are in the majority.

Most girls spend most of their time at school. If real change comes from hearing our voices, it has to start in school, but school is a place where black girls tend to experience microaggressions. Microaggressions are not always obvious, ugly, or terrible things, but they make you feel as though your voice does not matter.

Like feminism, I want to create systems and structures for the equity for all people, especially girls and women.

I love YouTube. You can find me there watching cat videos. I even like to watch other people play video games. I know it's a bit creepy, but it's my thing.

My parents taught me the importance of telling the truth no matter what.

Innovation comes from, one, acknowledging yourself; two, studying and understanding the problem; and three, finding a solution.

I go to Amazon to browse for things I can then go find at the mall. It's like window shopping online. I want to touch the things that I buy. I am the kid who still likes actual books, bookstores, and libraries.

Black girl stories aren't just for black girls: they're for everybody.

My parents have taught me the value of reading and self-love through books that have characters that look like me and talk like me.

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.

You always need to make sure that you're looking at every angle and every perspective so that people, when they read the story, know what's happening. You have to write for everyone.

Anyone can change the world however they want for the better!

It was the desire to see black girls and our experiences in the books that I was given to read at school that forced me to speak my truth. I launched #1000BlackGirlBooks, a book drive to collect the stories of women of color.

When I get lost in a book, it's just, like, magical!

'Marley Dias Gets It Done - And So Can You' is a book about how girls who are 10 and up - and everyone who is 10 and up, basically - can use their gifts and talents to help the world in a way that's unique to them.

Fashion is very important to me. I dress androgynously - I absolutely despise dresses and skirts and tights - and I started wearing glasses in the third grade.

I suggest school buses make stops at local libraries so that children who do not have resources like books at home can get access.

The first black girl book I fell in love with was most likely 'Please, Puppy, Please' by Spike Lee and Tonya Lee.

I am slightly obsessed with beauty products.