Writing Myself into the Narrative
By Elisha Freitas, Second Place Winner 2022
“Mami, in all the books I read, why doesn’t anyone look or act like us?”
I’m told I started reading before I was three years old. I quickly advanced from picture books with one word a page to early reader chapter books to volumes of fantasy, self-help and scripture. I devoured words, sentences, and paragraphs; inserted myself into fictional worlds so much that I lost track of reality; and checked out dozens upon dozens of books at the library, quickly realizing that I did not feel represented by my favorite childhood characters. My mom was always open with me about our family’s Dominican heritage and therefore my “otherness” in the White communities I grew up in, but that didn’t take away how much it hurt to notice that almost none of the people around me, and none of the characters I related and looked up to, were like me.
Later on, I would realize that this lack of ethnic representation (and even misrepresentation) in literature is not only common but the reality for many other kids and young adults of color. According to Lee & Low Books’ Diversity Baseline Study in 2019, 76% of the publishing industry are White/Caucasian, which translates to less diverse characters in books.
Little Elisha was frustrated and sad that no one looked or acted like us in the books she was reading. So how did her mom answer? She encouraged her to be the solution. And Elisha decided to do something about it herself.
Books were where I went to escape, explore, and imagine realities beyond on my own, but time and time again I felt unseen and unheard on the page. I started studying Editing and Publishing here at BYU with my own goal to one day run my own publishing company featuring the voices of marginalized communities. Well into my senior year, I’ve realized that not only is there a lack of representation, but there is also a lack of research on just how underrepresented people of color are in publishing, or the harmful literary tropes and stereotypes that actively tear us down, or even why representation is so important in the first place.
I’m currently working on my Honors thesis project, where I plan to explore this untouched area of research and survey young adults of color on representation in publishing in order to give them a voice. As I’ve learned through working on a Social Impact Project with the Ballard Center, in order to solve the problem, we need to understand the problem and the people it affects first. I plan to pursue a Master’s in Book Publishing once I graduate to do just that, continuing to push for more ethnic and racial diversity in publishing, hiring more BIPOC behind desks as editors or literary agents or authors, and telling authentic and unique stories, so that one day everyone’s narrative can be heard.”
Elisha Freitas won second place in the 2022 Changemaker Writing Challenges.