Why I’m Only Reading Books By Writers Of Color In 2015

Last year, when the Book Expo America conference announced a lineup of all white children’s and YA writers, backlash from writers and readers was swift and justified: they were outraged. For years, those who work with, read, and write books have been talking about the lack of diversity in the literary industry, but the lineup sparked an entire movement: #WeNeedDiverseBooks. It began as a hashtag on Twitter, and turned into a full-on organization.
The message of the movement has grown from calling out the frustrating lack of racial diversity at a book conference (30 white writers and a cat, but no people of color, really?) to addressing the larger issue of representation throughout the industry. According to their website, the mission of #WeNeedDiverseBooks is to “promote or amplify diversification efforts and increase visibility for diverse books and authors, with a goal of empowering a wide range of readers in the process.”

When I learned of the campaign and the reason for it, I wasn’t surprised. It’s always been obvious to me that the literary industry was heavily biased. I’d known it, but never given it much thought. As the movement grew, I started thinking more about my own relationship with books. They’ve been an important part of my personal growth, but how had diversity (or lack thereof) in the books that I’ve read affected me?
Over time, I’ve realized that reading about primarily white protagonists has limited how I’ve thought of myself and the world. Reading from one perspective has become formulaic, especially within YA, fantasy, and science fiction. There’s more to literature than what I’ve been reading, and if I can’t depend on the book industry to guide me to them, then I’ll take my own path to find it. This year, I’m only reading books by writers of color. Here’s why:

As I Child, I Didn’t Know I Could Be a Protagonist

Before #WeNeedDiverseBooks, I just read whatever fiction was available on library shelves. This means I was frequently guided to white authors. This didn’t bother me too much until I looked back at my childhood and remembered that I used to not know that people of color could be protagonists. When I imagined the characters of the stories I wanted to tell, they were as vaguely “ethnic” as possible. I wanted my characters to be black, but didn’t think it could be done because I had encountered it in literature so infrequently. I talk about how important representation is in media because I know how much it would have meant to me when I was younger.
I know how much it means to me now. Childhood is difficult, but so is adulthood. We want to see ourselves in media because it helps us know our experiences and feelings are valid. There was a surreal moment of listening to Americanah while I was living in South Korea and the characters began talking about traveling while black. Even as my non-black friends in Korea didn’t seem to understand some of my frustrations, there were these rich, expressive fictional characters giving voice to my feelings. In a way, I was finally a protagonist, and it meant the world to me at the moment. Not only would I like to keep experiencing that feeling, but I’d like to keep seeing the world through the eyes of other protagonists of color, and not just the white ones that I’d been gazing through for years.