"Hey Pretty": North Minneapolis native pens coloring book to empower Black girls
MINNEAPOLIS -- A north Minneapolis native is making sure all girls feel pretty. Maya Marchelle is using crayons and markers to pave the way for universal self-esteem.
Marchelle is a musician, a social worker, and a writer. She wrote a coloring book called "Hey Pretty!" with hope of lighting up the souls of little girls.
She got the idea after a student she was counseling was being called mean names.
"I decided to try something new with my girls group, and every time they would walk in, I would say, 'Hey pretty, hey pretty,' and the reaction I got was, 'Aww, you're talking to me'... So when I saw what an impact it made, I was like, 'I gotta do something about this," she said.
And she did.
First, she wrote a song. Then she put it into writing and drawing with the coloring book.
Marchelle hopes the coloring book will be used by girls and women of all races and backgrounds as a self-esteem tool.
"I had the chance to observe some girls flipping through the book, and they were picking out the pages that look like them," she said.
The coloring book is for sale at Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis and on Amazon. It can also be bought on Marchelle's website.