Today marks the start of a three-day social media event that’s been a long time coming. In the wake of the news of an entirely white-washed BookCon this year, as well as some startling stats about the decided and continued lack of diversity in children’s book publishing, Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy series, and a cadre of other writers are leading the charge with the inspiring #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, which is now trending on Twitter.
We caught up with Oh to chat more about the three-day event, which begins May 1 and runs through the 4th—and what readers and writers can do long-term to make a lasting impact.
Define diversity—I know that’s a question that’s popped up on Twitter.
For the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, diversity covers race, gender, religion, LGBTQ, disability, culture, and all of us who are from a marginalized group.
Why is this so important? And why do you think this is all coalescing now?
Diversity has been something I’ve been talking about for a long time. But I think the reason why we are gaining so much momentum right now has a direct correlation to what happened at BEA’s BookCon and the announcement of an all-white-male author panel for kid lit. And then to pour salt on the wound, they announced a guest list where the only non-white person was a cat. In a way, I have to thank them for helping us start this firestorm.
How did the campaign come about?
I’m good friends with Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo, who run the fabulous Diversity in YA website. We’ve been talking about the importance of diversity for a long time. And Malinda creates these powerful pie chart posts that talk about how bad representation is in children’s books. It’s quite depressing actually. When BookCon announced their all-white-male panel, we began talking on Twitter with a few other people about just how disappointing this was. And more people kept joining into our Twitter conversation. At that moment, I just had this image of the Whos of Whoville shouting “We are here!” and nobody hearing us until that one last little Who joined in. I knew that if we were going to have anything happen, if we were going to make change, then we had to bring together a whole lot of voices to really be heard. I think it was the right time to remind people that we are here. We aren’t going away. And we are needed.
What are the goals? For readers? For the publishing industry?
The media as a whole has got to stop ignoring underrepresented authors! Stop only reporting about white authors! Give us a chance to be heard, because if the public doesn’t know about our books, they won’t succeed. In all my conversations with a lot of authors, the single most talked about issue was lack of visibility in the public. I once went to a large conference that had a diversity panel and there was not one single person-of-color author on that panel! That’s how underrepresented we are. So diversity has got to be on the agenda of every festival and conference out there. For every event. I recently was at the first ever NoVA teen festival and I was on a great panel about identity, which just so happened to have Lamar Giles and Meg Medina on it also. It was the most diverse panel I had ever been on, and it was great! To top it off, Marie Lu was the keynote speaker! And when I compare other events to NoVa, they pale in comparison (no pun intended). There should be diversity at every book event, and not just as a token, but real representation! Because that is what our kids need.
What can people do to get involved?
Please join in the conversation! Send us your photos and words. And then support a favorite diverse author or buy a new diverse book! The only way we make real change is going from talking about it to doing something about it. If you can’t afford to buy a new book, times are tight for everyone, go to your local library and have them order more diverse titles! And spread the word!
The response so far has been tremendous—is this beyond your expectations?
It has been unbelievable to me and everyone else on the team. We’ve been in tears many times as we read the amazing and poignant responses that have come in. We love the photos we’ve received—from real teen readers! It’s been incredible!
This is a three-day call to action. What happens, ideally, after the campaign?
This shouldn’t stop! We will continue until we no longer need this hashtag. Until we see some real tangible changes in the industry. I really hope that day comes soon.
What can you do to get involved? The #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign is taking a three-pronged approach. Here’s how you can help.
On May 1st at 1pm (EST), there will be a public call for action that will spread over three days. We’re starting with a visual social media campaign using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks. We want people to tweet, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, blog, and post anywhere they can to help make the hashtag go viral. For more information on how to participate, click here!
On May 2nd, the second part of the campaign will roll out with a Twitter chat scheduled for 2pm (EST) using the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag.
On May 3rd, 2pm (EST), the third portion of the campaign will begin with a Diversify Your Shelves initiative to encourage people to put their money where their mouth is and buy diverse books and take photos of them.