MILWAUKEE — Making the impossible, possible. That's what Milwaukee author Nia Obotette hopes will happen once children get their hands on her new book series: Exploring All I Can Do.
"The world is ours," said Nia.
After realizing that there was a lack of representation for children of color in books, Nia decided to take matters into her own hands. She created a series that introduces readers to kids of color playing different sports outside the realm of basketball and football.
"I wanted books to reflect people of color, characters of color so that we can be inspired to think outside of the box of what most people put us in."
One of the books highlights a young Black girl and her love of hockey. According to ESPN, more than 80% of the national hockey league's employees and teams are white. Only 3% are Black. Less than 10% of hockey players are female.
"I wanted to create this character because I noticed that there wasn't an all-Black girls' hockey team, there wasn't a Black girls' hockey coach or female hockey coach," said Nia.
Nia says the character in the book is based on her niece Adila.
"She has this love of hockey and some of that includes the sights and the sounds of hockey and showing this family of color at the ice-skating rink enjoying the play of hockey."
And now that she's reached her kick-starter goal of raising $10,000 to be able to bring her books to life, Nia says she can't wait to see what kind of impact these stories will have on the next generation.
"That's the biggest reward for me is knowing that my books will inspire another generation of sports fans, of people interested in sports, potentially other illustrators, other writers, other authors. It's just limitless."
Nia hopes to have her books in the hands of readers by the fall. If you'd like to donate to Nia's kick starter for the book series, click here.
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