Event Calendar

Name: Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club
Start: 2023-02-16T22:00+00:00
End: 2023-02-16T23:30+00:00
Location: Palm Springs Public Library - The Learning Center

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Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club

Date: 02/16/2023 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM 02/16/2023 2:00 PM 02/16/2023 3:30 PM
Location: Palm Springs Public Library - The Learning Center
300 S. Sunrise Way
Palm Springs, California 92262

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Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club

Let the adventure begin. Join PSPL's newest book club: the Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club led by Sean R. Corbin, a PSPL Librarian.

The group meets the 3rd Thursday of the month September through May in The Learning Center at the Palm Springs Public Library from 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

To receive meeting information and join the email list for the Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club, please email Sean R. Corbin in advance of the meeting at sean.corbin@palmspringsca.gov

February 16, 2023

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

—"Tubbs' connection to these women is palpable on the page―as both a mother and a scholar of the impact Black motherhood has had on America. Through Tubbs' writing, Berdis, Alberta, and Louise's stories sing. Theirs is a history forgotten that begs to be told, and Tubbs tells it brilliantly."― Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist and National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning

—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. In her groundbreaking and essential debut The Three Mothers, 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.

Berdis Baldwin, Alberta King, and Louise Little were all born at the beginning of the 20th century and forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women. These three extraordinary women 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.

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Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Palm Springs, should contact the ADA Coordinator, as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.

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