On Supporting Diversity

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk on Flickr

So as sometimes happens when something negative goes viral, bookish Twitter took action on Monday and responded to an anti-diversity rant that had gone up the night before with a powerful message—that we as a community support diverse narratives.

It began with an author asking people to raise their voices and support diversity and the marginalized in the process. The author later asked to become anonymous and people not connect them to the hashtag anymore, because the backlash against the positive hashtag that came out of it unfortunately brought loads of racists and hateful people into their mentions—another problem all on its own. The hashtag began as #IStandForDiversity, but later transitioned to #ISupportDiversity because the first hashtag was unintentional ableist, but important tweets were shared at both, so I'm going to share some here.

#ISupportDiversity because humanity's only way forward is in understanding each other, valuing each other, and listening.

— RebeccaCoffindaffer (@callmebecks) September 5, 2016

#IStandForDiversity because I don't want to *search* for diverse books. I want shelves to reflect the world we live in.

— Laura Silverman (@LJSilverman1) September 5, 2016

#IStandForDiversity because it shouldn't take someone 20+ years to find meaningful representation of themselves in a book.

— Tara Sim (@EachStarAWorld) September 5, 2016

But also, #IStandForDiversity so kids like me who grew up in small town bubbles have a chance to see there's other lives out there.

— Summer Heacock (@Fizzygrrl) September 5, 2016

#IStandforDiversity because without it we grow up believing there is no place for us in stories, on bookshelves, or in the world.

— Anna-Marie McLemore (@LaAnnaMarie) September 5, 2016

#IStandForDiversity bc everyone deserves books that encourage them to love themselves for who they are, & to empathize & love others.

— Beth Phelan (@beth_phelan) September 5, 2016

#IStandForDiversity bc marginalized adults shouldn’t have to say “I didn’t see myself in fiction until I was 20/30/40” or “I still haven’t.”

— Mark O'Brien (@mobrienbooks) September 5, 2016

#ISupportDiversity because mirrors are as important as windows and doors. Because books with authentic rep can save and change lives.

— Katherine Locke (@Bibliogato) September 5, 2016

#ISupportDiversity because every good thing in my life has come from embracing complexity & realizing the world is much bigger than just me.

— Mike Jung (@Mike_Jung) September 5, 2016

#ISupportDiversity because there are still SO MANY incredible voices & stories that deserve to be out in the world saving lives.

— Beth Phelan (@beth_phelan) September 5, 2016

PSA: Hashtagging and discourse are great and all, but the actual best way to advocate for diversity is to throw money at it

— =KRUEGER THINGS= (@NotLikeFreddy) September 5, 2016

YES. If readers don't buy/support already existing diverse books? Publishers less apt to contract more. https://t.co/3XSJ3sOBWN

— heidi r. kling✨ (@HeidiRKling) September 5, 2016

As Paul and Heidi said, one of the best ways to really support diverse books and marginalized authors is to buy books and request them at the library. So, of course, here are a couple book recommendation threads.

• Michael Waters on diverse YA releasing soon.
• Sam Taylor's diverse book rec thread.
• Sam's second diverse book rec thread.
• Julie C. Dao's list of POC kidlit authors debuting in 2017.
• My #ownvoices book rec thread from August 30th. 
• Marieke Nijkamp's thread full of diverse books giveaways ending on 9/9!
• Ashley Herring Blake's #ownvoices books giveaway ending on 9/13!

And, in conclusion:

Great way to support #OwnVoices books is to READ THEM. Talk about them. Review them. Buy them & request them from your library.

— Ashley Herring Blake (@ashleyhblake) September 6, 2016

So there you have it. Support with your voices, and more importantly with your bought and requested books. Because representation is so, so important and we're just getting started.