Hillary Clinton Faces Her Toughest Interviewer Yet―​11-Year-Old Marley Dias

When I was really little, I wanted to be our first woman president. I always knew I want to be the kind of grownup who makes people's lives better. And since that's pretty much the job of the President of the United States, it seemed like a good idea. But I've realized that you don't have to be very old to start trying to fix the problems you see in the world around you. (I'm 11.) That's why I created #1000BlackGirlBooks, a book drive to collect stories about young black girls. I wanted to be represented in books and show people that it's possible to create spaces to be seen and represented.

I know, because I asked her! I emailed Hillary Clinton to find out what she was like when she was in middle school, why she loves her favorite books, and what happened when she got one really bad haircut. (I once cut off a big piece of my ponytail, so I know what it's like.) She has shaped the way I think about my future, because so many of the qualities she has now are ones that I want to have when I get older. It makes me so excited that she could become our first woman president. If someone had to do it before I could, I'm happy that it will be her. It's really no problem.


Reading our interview, I think it's very obvious that Hillary Clinton can be deep and funny at the same time. Sometimes, we expect a woman like her to be really serious always, but I want people to understand that she can talk about deep issues and chocolate, and that's okay. She's a real person—just like I am, just like my mom is, just like you are. She's not just a presidential nominee. She's a friend. She's human! And her favorite black girl book is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, which is an excellent choice.

What's your favorite black girl book?

Hillary Clinton: One of my favorite authors is Maya Angelou, and I love her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It tells the story of how Maya became such a strong, confident, determined person. Some parts are painful and hard to read, but of course that's the case in a lot of great books. And because Maya became a friend of mine in real life, it meant a lot to be able to read her story and understand her journey better. As a side note, Maya wrote something else I loved—a poem for Bill's first inauguration back in 1993. It was called "On the Pulse of Morning," and I want to share a stanza from it with you:

Do not be wedded forever

To fear, yoked eternally

To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,

Offering you space to place new steps of change.


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