New Netflix Series ‘Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices‘ Featuring Lupita Nyong’o, Tiffany Haddish, and Caleb McLaughlin

Netflix releases a new show featuring Black celebrities reading stories with important and powerful messages tailored for children.

Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices has celebrities read and share children’s books by Black authors to spark kid-friendly conversations about empathy, equality, self-love, and antiracism.

This is truly sparking so much joy in my heart right now! 🥰❤️ #BOOKMARKSNetflix: Celebrating Black Voices featuring stories ready by @common, @mistyonpointe, @calebmclaughlin, @marsaimartin, @lupita_nyongo, @missjillscott, and more faves is now streaming on @netflix! pic.twitter.com/p0w3YUfcwC

— Strong Black Lead (@strongblacklead) September 1, 2020

The series is a celebration of Black culture, stories, and identity. Celebrities that have been on the show include Lupita Nyong’o, Common, Tiffany Haddish, Jill Scott, Marsai Martin, Kendrick Sampson, Grace Byers, Caleb McLaughlin, Karamo Brown, Misty Copeland, and Jacqueline Woodson. The stories embrace Black heritage and the show is hosted by Marley Dias, an African-American writer and activist, who started the #1000BlackGirlBooks movement.

The first episode consists of comedian and actress Haddish reading I Love My Hair, written by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and illustrated by E.B Lewis, exploring the complexity and power of black hair—ranging from cornrows to afros. The story by all means empowers little Black girls around the world to not be ashamed of their hair.

Another episode includes rapper Common reading Let’s Talk About Race written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Karen Barbour. In this, he discusses racism in a digestible way for children, and even for adults, to enjoy and learn from. He emphasizes that we are all more similar than different, but our differences make us no better or worse than others.