Say what you will about social media… It’s time consuming, it’s overwhelming, it’s cruel and harsh and pointless. But, its strength is in connecting people. When those people get together behind a cause, it’s powerful.
Today, something came across my screen. The web site We Need Diverse Books started a campaign to “raise our voices into a roar that can’t be ignored” over the diversity in books, specifically children’s literature.
It started May 1 at 1 p.m. (est) and will continue for 3 days. One search on Twitter for the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks reveals that this campaign is seeing tons of action, just hours after its launch.
There was some kind of plan that went: Tumblr on May 1 and Twitter on May 2, but it looks like it’s already taking over Twitter and gone far beyond the original 2-hour requested posting time.
May 3, day 3, will take things a bit farther. It’s time to take action and diversify your shelf. There’ll even be giveaways.
It’s simple to join in.
1. Go to weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com and get the details.
2. Tumble or Tweet or Instagram about it. Tell everyone. Use #WeNeedDiverseBooks to share your opinions.
3. Go to the library or make a purchase to diversify your reading and bookshelf.
4. Keep it going until there is no more need for a campaign like We Need Diverse Books because really, that’s almost the saddest part. That in 2014 this still a thing we’re struggling to overcome.
Here’s some things people said…
Some of my tweets:
#WeNeedDiverseBooks because “strong female character” is a topic of frequent discussion and “strong male character” isn’t.
— Denise Drespling (@denisedrespling) May 1, 2014
#WeNeedDiverseBooks because what rocks my world puts yours to sleep.
— Denise Drespling (@denisedrespling) May 1, 2014
#WeNeedDiverseBooks because when authors like @rainbowrowell write a fat characters, no one believes she’s really fat. #e&p
— Denise Drespling (@denisedrespling) May 1, 2014
And Rainbow Rowell favorited it! And THEN I realized my typo. ><
And some of my favs by others:
#WeNeedDiverseBooks because mental illness isn’t a synonym for dangerous.
— Francesca Zappia (@ChessieZappia) May 1, 2014
#WeNeedDiverseBooks because prejudice is a fly that’s been in the soup so long we think it’s an ingredient, not an invader.
— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) May 1, 2014
#WeNeedDiverseBooks because the world is NOT made up of just a single point of view.
— Clara Morstan-Young (@LonelyHolmes) May 1, 2014
Check out what else is being said here.
What are your thoughts on this campaign? How will your diversify?
I think this is cool and hope that it gets people’s attention. I write a lot of creative non-fiction so I can’t diversify more than the events occurred, etc. But in my fiction, I think I’ll try to add more variety to the types of people and places, etc. I read a wide variety — might as well write it, too. How about you?
I try but I’ll admit sometimes it’s a challenge and I sometimes feel like I’m adding a “token” character of color, which in some ways, is worse. I try to not describe characters in a way that makes them a certain race so that the reader can imagine whatever they want.
We need diverse books because some families are not all the same color.
Absolutely! My uncle has adopted 7 children. My aunt and uncle are Caucasian, and they have kids that are Philippianian, half Puerto Rican, and African American. They are a beautiful rainbow!