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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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THE THREE MOTHERS

Anna Nti-Asare-Tubbs

In her groundbreaking and essential debut, Scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America's most pivotal heroes: Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin.
Much has been written about Berdis Baldwin's son James, about Alberta King's son Martin Luther, and Louise Little's son Malcolm. But virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them, who were all born at the beginning of the 20th century and forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women. Berdis, Alberta, and Louise passed their knowledge to their children with the hope of helping them to survive in a society that would deny their humanity from the very beginning - from Louise teaching her children about their activist roots, to Berdis encouraging James to express himself through writing, to Alberta basing all of her lessons in faith and social justice. These women used their strength and motherhood to push their children toward greatness, all with a conviction that every human being deserves dignity and respect despite the rampant discrimination they faced.

These three mothers taught resistance and a fundamental belief in the worth of Black people to their sons, even when these beliefs flew in the face of America's racist practices and led to ramifications for all three families' safety. The fight for equal justice and dignity came above all else for the three mothers. These women, their similarities and differences, as individuals and as mothers, represent a piece of history left untold and a celebration of Black motherhood long overdue.

Anna Nti-Asare-Tubbs is a Cambridge PhD candidate and the First Lady of Stockton, California. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, where she was also the president of the Black Student Union, Nti-Asare-Tubbs received a Master's from Cambridge in Multidiscplinary Gender Studies. An activist outside the academy, she lives with her husband, the mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs.
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Published 2021-02-02 by Flatiron

Comments

Tubbs does a masterful job of interweaving the facts of these women's lives into the evolving social and political histories of civil rights...Her passion to give voices to overlooked people of color is evident, and her storytelling is compelling. This important piece of scholarship and profoundly personal defense of African American women deserves a wide audience. Read more...

Interview Read more...

UK: Collins

Author essay: Remembering the Mothers of Three Iconic Civil Rights Figures Read more...

A welcome biography of three noted civil rights icons who were indelibly influenced by their mothers[...] A refreshing, well-researched contribution to Black women's history. Read more...

In an interview with The 19th, Tubbs discussed the process of piecing together lives erased from history and the lessons we can take from the mothers' legacies into our current world. Read more...

Scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America's most pivotal heroes: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. These deeply researched portraits of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin offer a new understanding of a century of American history. Read more...

Tubbs debuts with an engrossing triple biography... Tubbs skillfully draws parallels between each woman's story, and vividly captures the early years of the civil rights movement. This immersive history gives credit where it's long overdue. Read more...

These February releases elevate overlooked stories and offer insights on oft-discussed topics... : In The Three Mothers, Tubbs details the manifest ways in which Alberta King, Louise Little and Berdis Baldwin shaped their sons' history-making activism. Born within six years of each other around the turn of the 20th century, the three women shared a fundamental belief in the "worth of Black people, ...even when these beliefs flew in the face of America's racist practices," Read more...

You likely know that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin all played a pivotal role in the fight for civil rights - now you can learn about the women who taught them how to surviv in a society who denied them dignity from birth. This biography of their extraordinary moms, Alberta King, Louise Little and Berdis Baldwin, is both a celebration of Black motherhood and a how-to on raising resliient, visionary heroes. Read more...

Over the weekend, it was listed in multiple Black History Month and most-anticipated books of February lists, including: Time Out, Fortune Magazine, Smithsonian.com, the Napa Valley Register.

In her groundbreaking debut The Three Mothers, scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of Berdis Baldwin, Alberta King, and Louise Little - the mothers of James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Check out our interview... Read more...

BookPage interview by Destiny O. Birdsong with Anna Malaika Tubbs Read more...

THE THREE MOTHERS is An Amazon Pick for February 2021 A ?Library Journal? 2021 Title to Watch

An intimate narrative that aims to link not only Little, King and Baldwin, but all Black mothers... The intersections she highlights are beautiful. Read more...

While much is known about Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, and James Baldwin, most people are unfamiliar with the exceptional women who raised these three great men: Alberta King, Louise Little and Berdis Baldwin. In her seminal debut, Anna Tubbs brings these women's stories to life and emphasizes their efforts to inspire and protect their children who were born into a society that resented them from day one. This beautiful homage to black motherhood is highly relevant for today's world. Read more...