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Stanford alumna and Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr. Anna Malaika Tubb visited the USC Annenberg campus to discuss her new book “Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden From Us.” Students, professors, and faculty gathered in Wallis Annenberg Hall to hear Dr. Tubbs explore how American Patriarchy has oppressed marginalized communities.
The book talk was moderated by Domonique B. Fluker ’23, a multimedia journalist and former research assistant for “Erased.” Tubbs was candid as she unpacked the unsettling history of patriarchy in American society.
“[The founding fathers] wrote the Constitution and completely ignored women. They believed women should be controlled and should not participate politically,” Tubbs said. “They set up this binary of man and woman that is clearly flawed and limited.”
During the session, Tubbs and Fluker had a vulnerable conversation about navigating grief and motherhood while writing “Erased.” Tubbs described how her late mother inspired her to write Erased due to her own struggles with motherhood in the United States.
“My own mom said ‘If mothers are being honored, you’re going to see more wellness in these communities. If they’re not being given the support that they need, then you’re going to see ripple effects of inequity,’” Tubbs said. “She had my sister and I in the United States, and she felt privatized. The US was one of the places that did not honor mothers, and hence why we had a lot of issues.”
Tubbs described how her recent book was also inspired by her previous New York Times Bestseller Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation. As Tubbs delved into the legacies of the civil rights leaders’ mothers, she described the painful history of Black women in the United States and how it is connected to American patriarchy.
“During enslavement, Black women were told, ‘You are property and your children are property,’” Tubbs said. “Black women have often been the foil of American patriarchy because we’ve been able to envision new laws and a new way of how the country is organized.”
La’Shance Perry, a USC graduate student, described feeling empowered as Tubbs described the obstacles Black women have endured to overcome patriarchal systems.
“I went through so many different phases of frustration, to understanding, and empowerment,” Perry said. “Erased highlights the real experiences of Black women. I resonated with someone doing groundwork to highlight what has known to us for a long time.”
Tubbs shifted the conversation to the current state of American democracy and expressed that democracy must be invested in all people. She referenced Stacey Abrams’ organizing work which flipped Georgia blue in the historic 2020 presidential election. Tubbs said this is an example of Black women in history who have envisioned new possibilities and brought them into fruition.
“If we’re thinking about Stacey Abrams when she said I’m going to turn Georgia blue and no one believed her. Stacy said ‘I know the power lies with people’ and we just have to get rid of these barriers,” said Tubbs.
The conversation concluded with how students can challenge patriarchy. Tubbs encouraged students to focus on voting in upcoming midterm elections and evaluating interpersonal relationships to ensure they are not upholding patriarchal ideals
“It’s thinking about how we’re going to vote in [upcoming] midterm elections and create more of that equity through policy,” said Dr. Tubbs. “Notice [patriarchy] at every turn in how you think about yourself and others. How are we going to make sure we’re not replicating these models of control?”
Fluker expressed that now more than ever, students must lean on their community for support and guidance. Through empowering each other, students can make an impactful change in their communities.
“[Navigating patriarchy] is such a heavy task to take on by oneself, and it’s important to really lean on communities of care during these strange and spooky times,” Fluker said. “It’s important to empower yourself and then empower the broader masses.”