Ideas worth spreading

The critical role of Black mothers -- and how to support all moms

1,809,372 views |

Anna Malaika Tubbs |

TED Membership

• February 2022

Throughout US history, the stories of influential Black mothers have been purposefully obscured -- at a high cost to us all. Sociologist Anna Malaika Tubbs unmasks the lies and designs behind this strategic erasure and highlights the scientific, cultural and historical contributions of Black mothers. Listen in as she details how we can change the narrative to move forward. (This conversation, hosted by TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)

Throughout US history, the stories of influential Black mothers have been purposefully obscured -- at a high cost to us all. Sociologist Anna Malaika Tubbs unmasks the lies and designs behind this strategic erasure and highlights the scientific, cultural and historical contributions of Black mothers. Listen in as she details how we can change the narrative to move forward. (This conversation, hosted by TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)

About the speakers

Anna Malaika Tubbs

Anna Malaika Tubbs

Sociologist, author

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Anna Malaika Tubbs is a multidisciplinary expert on current and historical understandings of race, gender and equity.

Whitney Pennington Rodgers

Whitney Pennington Rodgers

TED current affairs curator

See speaker profile

Whitney Pennington Rodgers is an award-winning journalist and media professional.

Anna Malaika Tubbs | Harper Collins, 2021 | Book

The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation

My book that details the lives of Alberta King, Berdis Baldwin and Louise Little.

Alexis Pauline Gumbs et al. | PM Press, 2016 | Book

Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines

An anthology that places marginalized mothers of color at the center of a world of necessary transformation.

Dani McClain | Bold Type Books, 2019 | Book

We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood

A personal account of a Black mother's journey in raising her daughter with revolutionary love amidst the trials and tribulations of our country's current struggles with racism and inequity.

Julia Oparah et al. | Routledge, 2016 | Book

Birthing Justice

This book places Black women's voices at the center of the debate on what should be done to fix the broken maternity system and foregrounds Black women's agency in the emerging birth justice movement.

Alice Walker | Mariner Books, 2003 | Book

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose

Alice Walker speaks out as a Black woman, writer, mother and feminist with thirty-six pieces that explore both the personal and the political.

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