CLEVELAND, Ohio—Dawn Arrington’s love for superheroes dates back to childhood. 

• Dawn Arrington hands out free comic books featuring African American superheroes 
• She is a lifelong superhero fan and believes the stories are empowering
• She believes the importance of teaching people to read can take them to new places and strengthen communities

“I remember when the Batman series came out, and making sure I was home to see it every day after school,” said Arrington.

With that love for superheroes, also came a love for reading while growing up in a single-parent home.

“Literacy, though, was super important in our household,” said Arrington. “Education was super important in our household. There was no better way for us to change our condition or change our situation than being able to read and interpret written information.” 

And that became her superpower.

Arrington began handing out free comic books in neighborhoods like the one she grew up in, that suffer from low literacy rates.

“It just breaks my heart that so many people that look like me and are from my community, don’t know about, like, black superheroes,” said Arrington.

Her comic books feature prominent black superheroes like Marvel’s Black Panther, and DC’s Cyborg, but also lesser known ones like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.

“But she is the smartest character in the Marvel Universe. 9 years old and she’s super smart,” said Arrington. “And she has to go to like this public school because her family can’t afford to send her to a school that would actually provide her with a curriculum that would challenge her. That’s real life!”

500 comic books later, Arrington now works with others to bring projects like hers to life through ioby—a crowdfunding non-profit which raises money for local projects.

And she’s working with people like Lisa Collins on the Superhero Project.

“Dawn is one of the most enthusiastic and caring people I have met,” said Collins. “She is completely committed to the community in which she was raised and still lives…she is creative in how she wants to address significant social problems.”

Arrington, who still lives near the neighborhood she grew up in, says she sees reading and literacy not just as a way to get people to new places, but as a way to strengthen neighborhoods everywhere.

Reading is a way out, but it is also a way to build what we have right there…you don’t have to move out of your neighborhood. You don’t have to wait for a zip code to change in order for you to live in a nice place,” said Arrington. 

For this real-life superhero, like Spiderman, she believes with great power comes great responsibility she’s willing to take on.