Book Note: Three Mothers, How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation
Author: Bobby Valentine | Filed under: American Empire, Black History, Books, Christian hope, Race Relations, Reading
Book Note: The Three Mothers, How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr,., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs (2021)
“Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,
and do not reject your mother’s teaching“
(Proverbs 1.8 ).
Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs, has blessed us with a great blessing. I have read the stories of Martin, Malcolm and James numerous times from various points of view but Tubbs reframes almost a century of American history by bringing, literally, out of the shadows three mothers: Alberta King, Berdis Baldwin and Louise Little (Malcolm’s mother).
Three women born in radically diverse places within a few years of each other have profoundly shaped America. Their circumstances and opportunities differed considerably but each remarkably found ways to affirm their value as a human in the face of a world that denied they had any. Each had sons. Each lived through some of the darkest days of race relations. Each buried their sons, two to murder and one to cancer. Each has been not only overlooked but sometimes “erased.”
What Tubbs does is demonstrate the power of mothers to mold, shape and train her children. In the face of unbelievable odds – social odds, economic odds, racial odds – these women whose names are often not even remembered changed the world we live in.
I confess I found this book to be literally inspiring. And I’m not a mother. Dr. Tubbs aim is indeed to save these women from eraser but also to lift up the value and importance of Black mothers (and I would say all mothers). “[E]ach of the three teaches us that wherever we come from, outside the United States, a big city, or a small village–no matter where we live, the East Coast, the Midwest, or the South–and no matter our level of education or varying levels of access to resources, we have much to offer: each of us carries the potential to transform the world” (p. 221).
Placing Martin, Malcolm and James within a context we see clearly they are part of a whole. A whole that began long before they were born. And they said what they said and did what they did in large measure because they did not reject their mother’s teaching.
The pain these mother’s endured is almost unimaginable (Alberta lost not one but two sons; and she was murdered herself while in church. Louise, likely the product of white rape herself was so light she could pass for white but chose to remain Black and paid dearly for it, she too watched her son gunned down. Berdis lived in abject poverty defended her son from abuse of all kinds and she too would bury her son). What they did through their children – including their lost sons – is nothing short of amazing.
When I finished reading Tubbs book last night (it is a pure joy to read, she is a gifted writer), I could not help but think of two more moms. The first was my own. I have no doubt that I am the product of my mom’s teaching (though she likely shakes her head sometimes 🙂 ). The second mother was that of Jesus. She too is often overlooked or pushed to the shadows. But her influence upon Jesus was beyond calculation. And like these mothers rescued from the shadows by Dr. Tubbs, she saw her son die but he too has changed the world.
The Three Mother’s is a moving book. It is short being only 227 pages. I read it in a day. My world was expanded. I saw things in American history I had not seen. And I witnessed the power of love over hate. If you are looking for a good book then I recommend this one as your next purchase. There is an Amazon link in the title above (I make no money from this recommendation).
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