La Lumiere Alumnus & Author Releases Debut Book
Anna Malaika Tubbs, a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at Cambridge University and a class of 2010 graduate of La Lumiere, has published her debut book, “The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation,” which celebrates Black motherhood and highlights the impact it has had on America. Malaika Tubbs’ book tells the stories of three women, Berdis Baldwin, Alberta King, and Louise Little, who raised and shaped some of America's most pivotal heroes and navigates the nuances of each woman and the inspiration they provided for their sons.
Tubbs’ book dives into the individual and contextual histories of Baldwin, King, and Little at the beginning of the 20th century. It is both a look at the individual experiences of each woman, but also at Black mothers during this period of time, who were forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women. The book also presents the knowledge and drive that these three women passed onto their children, with a hope of helping their sons navigate and survive a society that was denying their humanity. They demonstrated to their sons their steadfast belief that each and every person deserves dignity and respect. The messages of hope that Baldwin, King, and Little passed on to their children inevitably led to the fabric of American society being remade and left a lasting impact on the nation.
Even after King, Baldwin, and Malcolm X each had substantial influence on American society, the stories of their mothers were long ignored. Malaika Tubbs hones in on the stories of these Black mothers and offers insight into a part of history that is often overlooked and left untold.