Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the women who raised and shaped three of America's most pivotal heroes.

Much has been written about Alberta King's son Martin Luther, Louise Little's son Malcolm and Berdis Baldwin's son James. But little has been said about the extraordinary women themselves, all born into the beginning of the twentieth century and its deadly landscape of racial prejudice.

In a society that would deny their sons’ humanity from the beginning as it had denied theirs, Alberta, Louise and Berdis raised their children to hope and to work towards a better future. Alberta based her lessons in faith and social justice, raising Martin Luther to believe in what was right, and to dream. Louise had fought her own battles for change and taught her children about their activist roots. Berdis encouraged James to express himself in writing. In building their sons towards resilience, resistance and greatness, they would become crucial to the development of not just three world-changing men but to the civil rights movement itself.

These women, in their common goals and differences, as individuals and as mothers, represent a piece of history left untold and a celebration long overdue.

In conversation with Festival of Ideas director Andrew Kelly.

Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation is published by William Collins. Buy a copy from Waterstones, our bookselling partners.

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Festival of Ideas: Anna Malaika Tubbs, How Did Three Mothers Shape a Nation?