More of this, please!
Netflix recently announced a new family book series, hosted and executive produced by 15-year-old Marley Dias, creator of #1000BlackGirlBooks, The Grapevine reports.
Dias is an author, activist, and founder of the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign to offer more book titles to youth, which features Black girls as the main characters. Now the young scholar is partnering with Netflix as executive producer and host of their new live-action family series, Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices. In addition to executive producing, the 2019 Young Futurist honoree will come on as host of the 12-episode series. It features “prominent Black celebrities and artists reading children’s books,” centered around themes of identity, social justice, and respect.
Introducing Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices📚 So excited to announce that I am the host AND executive producer of this new series❤️
— Marley Emerson Dias (@iammarleydias) August 18, 2020
Each episode features a children’s book about Black experiences written by a Black author and read aloud by a Black celebrity. Sept 1! pic.twitter.com/81SgcrhbQp
Creative producer Kevin A. Clark spoke about the new series, saying, “This series creates a vehicle for children and families to begin to have conversations around concepts of racial identity and social justice through prolific Black voices. I’m excited to be part of a project that leverages the power of Black storytellers and provides an opportunity for children to see themselves and their communities on screen.”
Notable celebrities signing on for the project include: Tiffany Haddish reading “I Love My Hair” by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, Lupita Nyong’o reading her published story “Sulwe,” Jill Scott reading “Pretty Brown Face” by Andrea Davis Pinkney, and Marsai Martin reads “ABC’s For Girls Like Me,” by Melanie Goolsby. The show is created by Jesse Collins Entertainment (Rhythm + Flow) and Collins, Dionne Harmon, David E. Talbert, and Lyn Sisson-Talbert will executive produce alongside Dias.
“I am so excited to be the host of Bookmarks! The work I do with #1000BlackGirlBooks exists in the literary space, and I am so happy to promote diversity and tell stories of girls like me through a new medium,” Dias said in a statement to Variety.
Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices airs on Netflix September 1st.
Photo Courtesy of Netflix