Key Takeaways
Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs’ groundbreaking research reveals the impact of three extraordinary Black women. They shaped the civil rights leaders we celebrate today. Her work exposes decades of systematic erasure. This erasure denied their crucial contributions to American history.
- Three forgotten mothers pioneered the civil rights movement: Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin were visionary activists. They shaped MLK Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin before their sons became famous.
- Their erasure was deliberate and systematic: Patriarchal power structures intentionally obscured these women’s contributions. Their stories were relegated to footnotes. Meanwhile, their sons were celebrated as heroes in their own right.
- Each mother planted revolutionary seeds in unique ways. Alberta taught faith-based resistance. Louise built international Black freedom movements. Berdis used writing to guide communities through darkness and oppression.
- Recovering these stories addresses contemporary crises. Understanding these women’s contributions provides essential lessons. These lessons help tackle current challenges facing Black women. These challenges include disproportionate maternal mortality rates.
- Historical accuracy requires centering Black women’s voices: These mothers didn’t stand “behind” great men. They stood beside them as leaders. Often, they pioneered the very movements their sons would later champion.
The systematic erasure of these three mothers represents a broader pattern. It denies Black women recognition for their transformative contributions to social justice. Their recovery is essential for both historical truth and contemporary progress.
Have you ever wondered about the powerful women who shaped the people from Black History Month we celebrate today? Two-time New York Times bestselling author Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs reveals these hidden narratives through her groundbreaking scholarship. Her first book, The Three Mothers, gets into the lives of the mothers behind Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. The book recounts stories of black women’s history that the patriarchy obscured. You’ll find how Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin pioneered movements and fought oppression. They planted revolutionary ideologies that shaped their sons into the icons we remember.
Dr. Tubbs Reveals Hidden Stories Behind Civil Rights Icons
Who Are the Three Mothers?
Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs found the lives of three extraordinary Black History Month women: Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin. These women raised Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin respectively, yet their names remain unknown despite their sons becoming household names. The sociologist and author documented their stories. She shared them in her bestselling book The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation.
Alberta King was born in Atlanta in 1903. She raised her son with strong faith and commitment to nonviolent resistance. Louise Little, born in Grenada in the late nineteenth century, instilled deep commitment to Black independence in her son. Berdis Baldwin, born in 1901 on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, expressed herself through writing and poetry. This inspired the literary works of her son James Baldwin.
Tubbs found a pattern that made these women’s stories even more interconnected. All three mothers were born within six years of each other. The first was born in the late 1890s. The last passed away in the late 1990s. Their sons were also born within five years of each other. Their lives spanned Jim Crow and the Great Migration. They also lived through the Civil Rights Movement. Black women faced specific prejudices during these pivotal moments in U.S. history.
Why Their Stories Remained Unknown Until Now
The erasure of these people from Black History Month was systematic. Tubbs found that stories of their lives were scattered mostly in margins and footnotes. Few cared to document anything about these women. Details about their lives resembled finding a needle in a haystack.
The connections between the mothers and their sons were evident in her research. It was clear that their erasure was intentional. Alberta, Berdis, and Louise made significant contributions to their families. These contributions were ignored for decades. They remained unappreciated while these women were alive. They received no credit for the ways they fought for their families. Their love enabled not only survival but also the progression of Black freedom at national and international levels.
Dr. Tubbs’ Academic Journey to This Discovery
Dr. Tubbs holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Cambridge. She also has a master’s in multidisciplinary gender studies. Additionally, she earned a bachelor’s in anthropology from Stanford University. Her academic focus centers on addressing gender and race issues in the U.S., the pervasive erasure of Black women.
She completed this project in three years, a feat described as remarkable for the scale and depth the work includes. Tubbs knew she wanted to bring attention to Black women who had been wrongfully forgotten when she started her PhD. She read Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. She also read The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. These books inspired her to pursue this project as a PhD candidate.
Tubbs faced significant challenges because all three subjects were deceased. She conducted research. She approached historians of MLK, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin to source any information they might have on their mothers. Her research question was simple: “Who were these mothers?”. She intended to focus on these women in their own terms. Her focus was not on their proximity to their sons or husbands.
The sociologist framed her work differently. She chose to introduce the woman before the man rather than accepting the problematic saying “behind every great man is a great woman”. These women stood beside these men, if not leading them, in her view.
Alberta King Pioneered Social Justice Before Her Son Became Famous
Growing Up as Daughter of Ebenezer Baptist Church Leaders
Alberta Christine Williams was born on September 13, 1904. She was the daughter of Reverend Adam Daniel Williams and Jennie Celeste (Parks) Williams. Her father was Ebenezer Baptist Church’s pastor in Atlanta, Georgia. He transformed the congregation from 13 members in 1893 to 400 by 1903. Martin Luther King Sr. didn’t establish the church but rather inherited it through Alberta’s family lineage.
Alberta grew up in the prosperous Black community known as the Sweet Auburn Historic District. She received an education that was remarkable for a woman of color born in 1904. She attended high school at Spelman Seminary. Later, she earned her teaching certificate at Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute in 1924. Williams worked as a teacher before her marriage. However, Georgia law prohibited married women from teaching. This law forced her to abandon that career path.
She redirected her skills toward church and community work. Alberta founded the Ebenezer choir and served as the church organist from 1932 to 1972, a span of four decades. She hosted and led the Ebenezer Women’s Committee. She also served as organist for the Women’s Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention from 1950 to 1962.
Participating in Early NAACP Marches and Boycotts
Alberta King’s activism began long before her son gained international recognition. She and her parents were among the NAACP’s earliest members. Dr. Tubbs described her as “this incredible social activist.” She believed that faith was built on social justice. Religious leaders had to fight for the oppressed while using their privilege to advance the cause.
Alberta and Martin Luther King Sr. marched on behalf of racial equality as early as the 1930s. This was decades before the marches led by their son drew international attention to racial injustice in the United States. She remained active in multiple civic organizations throughout her life, including the YWCA and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Her commitment extended beyond marches. Alberta served as president of the Ebenezer Women’s Committee for twelve years, ending her tenure in 1962 when her husband and son served as joint pastors of the church. She believed that faith demanded fighting for the oppressed and that religious leaders must use their privilege to advance justice.
Teaching MLK Jr. That Faith Demands Fighting Oppression
Martin Luther King Jr. first encountered racism as a young boy. Alberta sat with him and explained the harsh realities of slavery and the Civil War. She described segregation as a “social condition” rather than a “natural order” and made it clear that she opposed the system and that he must never allow it to make him feel inferior.
Martin Luther King Jr. later wrote about these formative conversations. “She taught me that I should feel a sense of ‘somebodiness’ but that on the other hand I had to go out and face a system that stared me in the face every day saying you are ‘less than,’ you are ‘not equal to,'” he recalled. Alberta then spoke words to almost every Black child. They heard them before understanding the injustice behind them: “You are as good as anyone”.
Her son credited her with shaping his moral development and called her “the best mother in the world.” He described her as being behind the scenes, setting forth those motherly cares. Without them, there is a missing link in life. He wrote letters thanking her for her lessons when he went to college and told his classmates about her influence. He checked in with her constantly even as he faced increasing danger for his civil rights work. He reassured her that he remained committed to their family’s generational cause.
Louise Little Built an International Movement for Black Freedom
Learning from Grandparents That Freedom Is Worth Fighting For
Born in Grenada in 1897, Louise Langdon grew up in a family proud of its heritage. Her parents came from Nigeria, and this African ancestry shaped the values she inherited. She spoke French, Creole, and English. She received an education under British colonial rule before opportunities for young Afro-Caribbean women drove her to leave the Caribbean. Her family valued self-reliance and education. They instilled in Louise a foundation that would prove critical to her activism.
Langdon migrated to Montreal as a teenager in 1917. Those two years in Canada became foundational in cultivating her Black radical internationalism. She joined the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Montreal and became a committed Garveyite. She met Earl Little at a UNIA gathering in the city. He was a fellow Garveyite and Baptist minister from Reynolds, Georgia. They married in Philadelphia in 1917 and moved to Omaha. There they established themselves as members of Marcus Garvey’s movement for years.
Organizing for Marcus Garvey’s Movement in Different Places
Earl Little worked as an organizer for the UNIA during the 1920s. He served as president of the Omaha, Nebraska division. Louise Little took on the role of division secretary. She wrote reports that documented local UNIA activities and division meetings for The Negro World newspaper. Her work was similar to other Garveyite women. They traveled through the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Central America on behalf of the organization.
Louise practiced what historians call “community feminism,” a distinct Black feminist politics that combined feminism and nationalism. She rejected masculinist claims of women’s intellectual inferiority. She refused to submit to the male chauvinism of her husband or the racism and sexism of white state officials. Wilfred Little later claimed that his mother had hidden Marcus Garvey in their house. This happened when Garvey was on the run from the FBI. She wrote letters and dispatches for him.
Planting Seeds of Malcolm X’s Revolutionary Ideology
Weeks before Malcolm’s birth, Klansmen came with guns and torches to terrorize the Little family. Louise, pregnant, went outside and faced down the armed men with Earl out of town. She exposed them to various languages and insisted they read Black-owned newspapers like the Negro World and publications from Grenada. Malcolm wrote to his brother in 1949 that their mother suffered at the hands of the state because authorities knew she was not “deadening our minds”. He added that all their achievements belonged to their mother. He called her “a most Faithful Servant of the Truth”.
Berdis Baldwin Used Writing to Guide People Through Darkness
Turning Personal Tragedy Into Literary Purpose
Emma Berdis Jones, who went by Berdis, began expressing herself through writing and poetry from a young age. This creative outlet became essential after her mother died during childbirth. Berdis had to process profound grief through words on paper. She was born in 1901 on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in Deal Island. She came from a poor, rural community. Her father worked as a waterman. The loss of her mother shaped her understanding of pain. She would later channel this understanding to help others guide their own suffering.
Berdis left home for Philadelphia and New York. She worked as a cleaner before having her first child, James. She married David Baldwin when James was about two or three. The family lived in housing projects alongside “American Park Avenue” uptown in Harlem. Berdis had limited financial resources. Her husband was abusive. Despite these challenges, Berdis managed to keep her writing practice. It served to offer guidance to her community.
Writing Letters Filled with Wisdom and Hope
Berdis became known throughout her community for letter writing that carried remarkable literary quality. She believed her writing helped other people through darkness and pain. It offered them different points of view to find healing and progress. Teachers and principals at her children’s schools admired these letters, especially the notes she wrote to explain absences.
Gertrude Ayer, principal of James’ first school in New York, stated that Berdis “had the gift of using language beautifully.” She added that “her notes and her letters, written to explain her son’s absences, were admired by the teachers and me.” Ayer connected this transmitted talent to James’ success as a writer.
Becoming the Witness James Baldwin Later Embodied
James Baldwin’s identity as a witness began with his mother. She practiced using words to shed light on truth. Her words guided people through suffering. He called himself “the witness to the power of light.” This role mirrored his mother’s belief in writing as a tool for helping others see beyond their pain. When James died of cancer at 63 in 1987, a grave was purchased for both of them. She had eight other children, yet he wanted her buried beside him. This showed the inseparable nature of their lives and work. Family members spoke about her brilliance and how James inherited not just talent but purpose from her letters.
Why These Black History Month Women Were Systematically Erased
Patriarchy’s Strategy of Obscuring Women’s Contributions
A disturbing pattern affecting black history month women over centuries emerges. This happens when we examine the erasure of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin. Those in positions of power have recorded history. Male physicians, historians, and medical institutions controlled this process. They led to a selective retelling.
Women’s contributions were either omitted or deemed less noteworthy than those of men. Black women played significant roles and led efforts in the fight for equal rights. Many mainstream histories ignore their contributions. This systematic bias results in women’s noteworthy achievements often being overlooked. Their accomplishments did not receive the recognition that was afforded to their male counterparts.
How Erasure Maintains Fabricated Power Systems
Dr. Tubbs describes this denial of recognition as violent. It denies existence, power, and imprint on the world. Then, the history of women that goes unrecognized inadvertently reinforces gender stereotypes and perpetuates systemic biases that limit opportunities. Ongoing disparities stem from historical erasure. It creates a culture that remains unwelcoming. The continued practice of taking work, ideas, and creative genius from Black women without proper credit proves most troubling.
The Urgency of Recovering These Stories Today
Tubbs emphasizes the urgency of recovering these narratives. Black women suffer disproportionate maternal mortality rates. They experience three to four times more pregnancy-related deaths than white women at all income and education levels. Maternal health care operates in systems that inherently undervalue Black lives, according to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. The role of people from black history month like these three mothers provides valuable lessons. We can address contemporary challenges by understanding their contributions.
What’s Next?
Dr. Tubbs’ groundbreaking scholarship reveals what patriarchy concealed for decades. Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin were not simply supportive mothers. They were visionary activists who planted revolutionary seeds in their sons. History erased them intentionally to maintain fabricated power systems that diminish Black women’s contributions.
Recovering these narratives matters not just for historical accuracy but to address contemporary crises facing Black women today. You now understand that the civil rights movement you celebrate emerged from these three women’s courage and activism. Their steadfast dedication to justice spanned generations.
FAQs
Q1. Who are the three mothers featured in Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs’ research? The three mothers are Alberta King (mother of Martin Luther King Jr.), Louise Little (mother of Malcolm X), and Berdis Baldwin (mother of James Baldwin). All three were born within six years of each other in the early 1900s. They were activists and visionaries. They shaped their sons’ revolutionary ideologies through their own commitment to social justice, Black liberation, and creative expression.
Q2. What made Alberta King an activist before her son became famous? Alberta King was an early NAACP member. She participated in marches and boycotts for racial equality as early as the 1930s. This was decades before her son’s civil rights work gained international attention. She served as church organist for 40 years. She founded the Ebenezer choir. She taught her son that faith demands fighting oppression. She also taught him that he should never feel inferior despite segregation.
Q3. How did Louise Little contribute to the Black freedom movement? Louise Little was a committed organizer for Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. She served as division secretary. She also wrote reports for The Negro World newspaper. She practiced “community feminism.” She traveled across borders to organize for the movement. She instilled Pan-African ideology and Black independence values in her son Malcolm X from an early age.
Q4. Why were these mothers’ stories erased from history? Their erasure was systematic and deliberate. It reflected patriarchal power structures. History was recorded primarily by men who omitted or minimized women’s contributions. This denial of recognition reinforced gender stereotypes. It maintained systems that undervalued Black women’s achievements. Their stories were scattered mostly in margins and footnotes rather than being properly documented.
Q5. What was Berdis Baldwin’s influence on James Baldwin’s writing? Berdis Baldwin was a gifted writer. She expressed herself through poetry and letters. Her words helped guide people through darkness and pain. Teachers and principals admired her beautiful use of language. She passed this literary talent directly to her son, James. He called himself “the witness to the power of light.” This role mirrored his mother’s belief in writing as a tool for illuminating truth.
