STOCKTON, Calif. — Former Stockton first lady Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs has become a New York Times bestselling author with a book about what some are calling the mothers of the civil rights movement.
“Oh it was such a dream come true," Tubbs told ABC10. "It was a really intense moment because I was sleeping and my editor called me and thought I have to answer the phone. And she says you did. You are a New York Times bestselling author. I thought oh my God am I dreaming?”
As a matter of fact, Tubbs has appeared on the list four weeks in a row now with the book titled: "The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation."
“Other black women who should be celebrated in history, who if we knew their life stories could really change the way we thought about things we talk about all the time,” she said.
In this case, Tubbs said she sought to humanize giants of the civil rights era.
“People who had mothers. People who were children at one point. And how their mothers and their communities and their cities really poured into them and taught them what they knew," she said. "They didn’t show up fully formed with these ideas on freedom and how to achieve it.”
Tubbs is a young mother herself, with a growing family now living in Los Angeles.
“Of course we miss Stockton," she said. "We miss our family that lives in Stockton. And (it's) so hard to not have my mom in law just 10 minutes away from me. Or my auntie in law or my grandma to just say 'Hey? you want to help us with these two children?' The kids are doing really well, and time is flying. Mike and I are just enjoying the amount of time we get to have together. For so many years it was difficult to carve out that time. We are grateful to God.”
