Why do I write?
Jonathan Marshall is a poet, writer, entrepreneur, and author of children's books. Jonathan has spent the last decade and a half working with youth from various backgrounds, from being a teacher, working in the social work field, and currently advising students at Eastern University, where he studied Early Childhood Education.
Jonathan is a person who likes to create and bring stories to life and does so in an engaging way in all of his books. Although originally from Camden, New Jersey, he now lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife, two boys and daughter who inspire him each and every day to keep creating. Jonathan started his writing journey in 2019 when he wrote his first book, "I'll Be Right There." Since then, Jonathan has written 5 more books and continues to build his library with more books for children and soon young adults too.
While writing was like second nature to Jonathan, the idea to create stories for children was something that rose from becoming a father. He saw and lived under the microscope where negative stereotypes had a large platform when defining fatherhood in the African American home. Jonathan sought to fight against this by showing a picture of what it means to be a black dad who is there for his children.
His first book " I'll Be Right There," speaks against the idea that black men aren't there for their children, that they don't exist, that a lot of African American children grow up with absent dads. Whatever truth these stigmas hold, this book is about the total opposite!!!
It's an encouragement to black dads to keep being present, an encouragement to absent fathers to step up and especially an encouragement to young children and his own children especially, that through ANY obstacles, you can and should depend on your dad!!
Jonathan doesn't just write about this, he lives it. You can see this in the stories thay he writes. His intention is to create stories that families can enjoy reading together but more importantly, stories that families can see themselves in.