Pierce Twins Make a Positive Change with Nonprofit

Kyra and Phallon Pierce are the founders of Positive Change Charities, a nonprofit that distributes books by diverse authors about diverse characters. Photo by Amy Aiello.
Kyra and Phallon Pierce are the founders of Positive Change Charities, a nonprofit that distributes books by diverse authors about diverse characters. Photo by Amy Aiello.

 Pierce Twins Make a Positive Change with Nonprofit

By Tia Carol Jones

Kyra and Phallon Pierce were in eighth grade when they found a racist book on their school’s reading list. It led them to look at their school’s reading list and the reading lists from schools in their area. They found there was a lack of diversity when it came to the authors and the characters in the books on those lists.

They took matters into their own hands and created their own reading list, with books written by and about people of color. The reading list started off with books for students in first to eighth grade. Now, it has expanded to include books for students in high school.

They founded Positive Change Charities as a way to distribute the books on the list to underfunded libraries, whether those are classroom libraries or school-wide libraries.

“Our mission is to bring diversity into literary curriculums, we feel it’s important, especially for young children, to be exposed to diversity at a young age. Because it makes everybody more accepting and tolerant of each other, and if we can do that, when kids are young, imagine how much better this world would be and how accepting we would all be of each other,” Fallon Pierce said.

The Pierce twins believe that it is important for young people to see themselves depicted and represented in what they read and watch because it makes them more confident in who they are and their community.  It also is inspiring for young people to see themselves represented in different forms of creative content.

“It’s inspiring and it helps you to see yourself. Maybe you didn’t think you could do something, then you see someone in a book or someone in something you’re reading and you’re like wow, I want to do that, too,” Kyra Pierce said.

Kyra and Phallon agreed it is more fun to read books with diverse characters because reading about people who have the same background or different backgrounds gives a very different perspective. The Pierce Twins are always expanding their reading lists and taking recommendations.

The Pierce Twins have been working with Illinois State Representative LaShawn K. Ford on legislation to include more diversity in school curriculums. HB 2401 would require that books that contain derogatory, racists, or hate speech would not be approved by school districts.  HB3254 would mandate schools throughout the state to require that they would include books by diverse authors included in reading lists. They also have been down to Springfield to meet with other elected officials.

Some of The Pierce Twins’ favorite books include Just Mercy, We Are Water Protectors and Sulwe. These books have really important messages that they feel children should be exposed to and learn about.

The Pierce Twins have a goal to distribute 100,000 books. Recently, they received a grant from the State of Illinois to distribute those books. Before they received the grant, they had distributed 4,000 books.

Positive Change Charities provides book grants on an annual basis. For more information about The Pierce Twins, visit www.thepiercetwins.com.

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