Adiba Nelson is the author of Ain’t That A Mother; the memoir that Essence, Bustle, Ms. magazine, and Shondaland all hailed as a “must read”, and subject of the Emmy-winning documentary, The Full Nelson. She is also a retired burlesque performer, disability rights advocate/activist, freelance journalist, and very tired mom!
In 2013 she wrote and self-published her first children’s book Meet ClaraBelle Blue after not being able to find a children’s book that adequately and appropriately represented her daughter (disabled, Black). Since then Adiba has led numerous workshops and given keynote addresses around the country for parents, educators, and education professionals/paraprofessionals, focusing on DEIA from a disability perspective.
In 2017 Adiba delivered her first TEDx talk (Skating Downhill: The Art of Claiming Your Life) to a sold-out crowd and has since joined the NPR affiliate Arizona Public Media as a regular contributor on Arizona Spotlight, spoken at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture, and led a memoir master class in sunny San Juan Puerto Rico at the request of the poet dubbed the “Maya Angelou of the Millennial Generation”, Azure Antoinette.
