The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs

Hello my lovely readers! You know, I had a planned TBR for this year regarding biographies as part of the 12 Lives Challenge but I've only read one off my list. Funnily enough, I've read three separate biographies this year. I should probably just add them to my challenge because this biography was fantastic. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS
Much has been written about Berdis Baldwin's son James, about Alberta King's son Martin Luther, and Louise Little's son Malcolm. But virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them, who were all born at the beginning of the 20th century and forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women.

Berdis, Alberta, and Louise passed their knowledge to their children with the hope of helping them to survive in a society that would deny their humanity from the very beginning--from Louise teaching her children about their activist roots, to Berdis encouraging James to express himself through writing, to Alberta basing all of her lessons in faith and social justice. These women used their strength and motherhood to push their children toward greatness, all with a conviction that every human being deserves dignity and respect despite the rampant discrimination they faced.

These three mothers taught resistance and a fundamental belief in the worth of Black people to their sons, even when these beliefs flew in the face of America's racist practices and led to ramifications for all three families' safety. The fight for equal justice and dignity came above all else for the three mothers.

These women, their similarities and differences, as individuals and as mothers, represent a piece of history left untold and a celebration of Black motherhood long overdue.

MY THOUGHTS
This was an incredibly sobering read but also incredibly beautiful.  I'm so grateful that Tubbs wrote this book so she could share the lives of these three Black women who are usually forgotten to history, despite creating three of the most powerful Black men in the U.S.

As a Black woman and a Black mother, it was truly a privilege and an honor to read about these women and their lives.