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

Kyndal Kohl, Reporter

The Three Mothers is a nonfiction book written by Anna Malaika Tubbs, an advocate and scholar with a Ph.D. in Sociology. She was exposed to many different cultures and viewpoints while growing up, and wishes to bring people together because of their differences. The Three Mothers is a debut book by Tubbs, and it celebrates Black motherhood, specifically, the mothers behind some of the greatest Black men to grace America: Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. 

Of course, I enjoyed the book. As a history major, I always like to reevaluate events through the contemporary lens. I enjoyed learning about the mothers behind these great historical figures, and how they’re also phenomenal figures in their own right. Furthermore, Jim Crow, and even slavery, was only a handful of generations ago. We can’t forget that. Tubbs reminds us throughout the book that these women did not have an easy go of it, navigating Jim Crow-era America, as well as losing their sons much too early. 

I would recommend this book to anyone. It’s one of those books where I think that it’s would be beneficial for everyone to read this, much like Sissy by Jacob Tobia. The book helps to observe different perspectives and cultures around you, even if you don’t understand it. Learning and accepting is much easier than resisting and being ignorant. It’s a very hard life to live if you refuse to take the blinders off.  

Anna Malaika Tubbs hasn’t written any other books yet, but if you’d like to read books about incredible women, by incredible women, I would recommend Her Honor: My Life on the Bench… What Works, What’s Broken, and How to Change It by LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt, and Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America by Dahlia Lithwick.