Alison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
We’ve been talking about the need for diverse books for a long time on Book Riot, and even the need for more attention on diverse bookstagram accounts. It’s been lovely in the past few years to see how this cause has grown and achieved remarkable victories. I remember when the YA bestseller list was often populated with all white authors, often all white men. Now, it’s not uncommon to open the paper on Sunday and see the list dominated by women of color. And #ownvoices has become a rallying cry in publishing and among readers.
Social media has made so much of this shift possible. Trying to populate my internet life with reviewers, recommenders, and authors of color has helped me understand the need for these changes and diversify my own reading. But more change, more diversity, and more gatekeepers of color are definitely needed. This Black History Month, I want to specifically suggest you follow these ten beautiful bookstagram accounts run by black women.
