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

“Louise would become a warrior and a symbol of resistance because the struggle for freedom pulsed through her genes. The blood of her ancestors carried with it messages of liberation, while the land that held her whispered tales of revolutions it had witnessed over the years. The water all around her held the bodies of fighters who came before her, and she was proud to continue the legacy of her country, her people, and her family. To this day, one of the defining features of Grenadians is their resistance, specifically to white supremacy.”

The above passage situates Louise’s grassroots activism in a long history of resistance against oppression. Louise also inherited her values and ideals through her ancestral history, which forms part of Tubbs’s message of familial influence and example. Because Grenadians manifested their resistance through rebellions against colonialism and white supremacy, this environment formed Louise’s identity and reinforced her revolutionary spirit. Tubbs’s consideration of the Grenadian influence supports her presentation of Black identity as varied and dynamic.

“Black women are the ultimate practitioners of this ability to turn tragedy into opportunity, face fear and persecution with faith and unmatched perseverance, and create something out of nothing, because it has been required of us.”

The passage summarizes Tubbs’s key argument about the Black female experience. Throughout history, Black women have balanced between pain and joy, suffering and survival. To understand their humanity, society must acknowledge both sides of this experience. While they and their families confronted unfathomable tragedies due to racism and violence, they managed to face their struggles with resilience and hope. In doing so, Black women transformed their own and their families’ fates. This passage demonstrates the personal and ideological nature of Tubbs’s popular biography, which makes it quite different in tone from an academic article. The “us” fosters a sense of intimacy and announces Tubbs’s allegiance to her subjects.

“Alberta would also see the uplift of others as a crucial part of her role as a Black woman. She would follow in her parents’ footsteps, continuing the legacy of combining faith with discipline and becoming a role model for many others along the way.”

Tubbs illustrates how Alberta’s life and family legacy is reflected in her son’s activism and political action. This passage presents Alberta as a cultural and moral bridge between her forbears and her children, an important aspect of women’s role in the book. The word “role model” will recur in the book numerous times, supporting Tubbs’s recognition of these women as heroines even though their sons attracted fame where they did not.

“Emma, called Berdis by her family, spent her early years out on the water with her father. Despite the seeming lack of opportunity for upward mobility on the island, its isolation, along with its small population and a shared reliance on the water, allowed residents to bond across race differences at times. Men and women on boats, making a living for their families, had to rely on one another in some sense. This modest upbringing, paired with witnessing people working together despite contrasting identities, informed Berdis even after she left the island.”

Tubbs uses an exploration of how Berdis’s upbringing defined her consciousness and identity to make wider points about the variety of Black experiences in the US at the time. While racism in Maryland was rampant in the early 20th century, Berdis’s experience differed as class alliances in her small community encouraged interracial relationships. Early on, Berdis realized how human connection and love promote justice and equality. Such values defined their future life as a woman and mother.

“In Garveyism, Louise found echoes of the lessons she was brought up on. She found a home away from home where she could channel her anger against white supremacy, where she could use her writing to advance the cause of her people, where she could join others in the fight for Black independence.”

Louise’s early activism and advocacy of Garveyism aligned her with the ideas of Black nationalism, self-determination, and autonomy for African Americans. Louise became a passionate grassroots activist, advocating and practicing her racial pride. Her political action connects directly to the values her son Malcolm X supported and worked for during the civil rights of the 1960s. Drawing connections between Louise’s and Malcolm’s activism, Tubbs illuminates a larger tradition of activism that directly informed the civil rights movement.

“The Williams family was not one of the thousands that left the South for something better in the North. They believed in standing their ground and defending their humanity right where they were. This decision was further informed by the privileges they were able to enjoy as an educated Black family supported by a large congregation they worked immensely hard to build over the years. The Williams family was rooted in Atlanta, but they were not satisfied with the conditions of the caste system they found themselves in. Instead, in staying, they made a commitment to change Atlanta with hopes of progressing the case for Black freedom across the United States.”

Tubbs contrasts Alberta’s experience during the Great Migration with that of Louise and Berdis. Alberta remained with her family in the South, as her parents were determined to fight racism at its heart. Despite remaining close to her familial environment, Alberta began to develop her political consciousness through her parents’ activism. Again, her family legacy reflects the values of the future freedom struggle in the South, as they worked to galvanize the Southern Black community to embrace the cause of racial justice, preparing the future civil rights movement. Tubbs’s comparison of the three families’ choices is an example of how she carefully presents differences without judgment.

“Berdis was known to have a brilliant mind, and in these early years of her life she developed a love of writing and of poetry. She sometimes performed her pieces in front of her family members. This love for words and her education expanded her mind and allowed her to imagine what existed beyond what she could readily see.”

The above passage establishes facts that will become essential to the connection between Berdis and her son, James Baldwin. Berdis would instill her love of education and literature in her son, encouraging him to develop his creative talent. In this way, Tubbs foreshadows James’s career as a renowned writer, presenting this as a natural consequence of his mother’s similar talent.

“Berdis maintained her sense of calm and her loving view of humanity but was often stifled by her husband’s anger and his growing paranoia that everyone was out to get him. He was the victim of his circumstances, one who eventually could no longer see hope in his condition. The air grew heavier and heavier between them as their family grew.”

Tubbs shows how Berdis’s love and resilience were key in the preservation of her family. Berdis endured the abuse of her husband: Both partners were impacted by racial and class oppression, but Berdis suffered from the intersectionality of being both Black and a woman and therefore subjected to gender-based violence as well. Berdis continued to support her children by practicing her values of love and humanity. Berdis chose hope over despair, allowing her children to thrive amid their struggles. This is one of Tubbs’s examples of Black women’s heroic endurance, echoing the words of Chapter 1.

“Alberta was not allowed to teach in schools anymore, but she used her schooling to teach her husband, her church, and her own children. She chose her marriage over an official career, a marriage filled with mutual support for each other. […] They moved in with Alberta’s parents and followed in her parents’ footsteps as the eventual leaders of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. The young couple built on the church’s legacy of pairing faith with social justice and activism.”

Tubbs again shows that Black women were subject to dual discrimination, as married women were not allowed to teach as men were. Tubbs highlights that Alberta—when forced to leave her career—found alternative ways to use her energies and talents. By embracing her roles as a Black mother and wife, Alberta nurtured a new generation of Black people, one that displayed transformative power in the world. This passage also shows the importance of the church as an acceptable means for women to take positions of leadership in the community, a strand that runs through the book.

“The violence Louise and Earl faced had perhaps inevitable adverse effects on their marriage. Constantly running away from threats, constantly having to start over, and constantly worrying about their survival took a toll on the ambitious couple. […] They wanted to build a life together, to own their land without issue, to provide for themselves, to teach their children self-sufficiency and pride. […] Yet at every turn they were stopped, intimidated, and threatened, their property was destroyed or seized, their human worth and dignity were ignored.”

The passage highlights the effects of racial violence and terror on Black marriages and families. Tubbs here emphasizes how much the traditional sphere of women—marriage, family, and homemaking—was threatened by racist violence.

“The Littles’ unbelievable ability to bounce back, to be unafraid, to continue in their bold proclamation of the value of Black lives, framed the many lessons Earl and Louise taught in their household. They were proud of their militancy, proud of their roots, proud of their self-sufficiency, and they never failed to share this pride with their children.”

As militant activists, Louise and her husband continued to confront racial intimidation with courage and perseverance. Having to survive in an oppressive environment, they taught their children the value of self-determination and economic autonomy while always conveying their racial pride to their children. The words “never failed” are an example of Tubbs’s recurrent willingness to make emphatic and comprehensive statements concerning her subjects, even if these may overstate what anyone can know to be factual.

“Louise and Earl passed down the importance of self-sufficiency; Alberta and Martin passed down the importance of social justice; and Berdis, more so than David, passed down the importance of love and acceptance for all. Finally, all three families made decisions based on their Christian faith, although their approaches differed widely.”

Tubbs structures her passage to demonstrate the differences and similarities between the families and their primary influences. By doing this, she makes the three female subjects emblematic of Black women—suggesting that paths and priorities are individual, but the value and importance of their influence is held in common.

“Louise’s experiences as a poor Black immigrant woman in a racist city were completely ignored and misunderstood. Her ability to provide for her children for nearly a decade following her husband’s death is described as ‘maladjustment.’ Her depression is described as a ‘change of personality.’ She is judged for the recent birth of her child, she is punished for standing up against agencies that did not treat her with dignity, and she is called insane for insinuating that she is discriminated against.”

Analyzing Louise’s experiences as a young, Black, and immigrant woman, Tubbs highlights the effects of intersectional oppression. Louise encountered specific forms of discrimination after the loss of her husband, and while striving to survive as a single mother. She was punished by the system for claiming her rights and independence while being victimized and forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital for her mental health crisis. Tubbs shows that institutional racism and discrimination ultimately led to the family unit’s disintegration. This passage is part of Tubbs’s argument that women are often punished for showing strength and “gaslit” by a system that wishes them to comply. By unflinchingly showing these hardships, Tubbs intimates that Louise is blameless, refuting narratives that have criticized her as a mother who was unfit or not coping. These gender-based challenges contextualize why it was the sons of these women who rose to prominence and not the mothers themselves.

“This intense period of personal and political change and upheaval paved the way for each mother and her children to become active agents in the larger fight for Black lives. It is excruciating to even imagine experiencing the losses Alberta, Berdis, and Louise encountered throughout their lives—from the loss of their parents and husbands to the loss of their freedoms—but these were crucial moments in the development of their identities as Black women and Black mothers.”

This passage is an example of Tubbs’s dual argument that while loss and turmoil are not to be wished for or diminished retrospectively, with hindsight, they can be seen as sources of resilience and strength. Tubbs’s language is empathetic and assumes the agreement of the reader as a persuasive device. Her emphasis on the difficulty of imagining is also a recognition of progress in the lives of Black women in America since the early- and mid-20th century.

“When the Littles came home from school, Louise would reteach them what they had been taught by their white teachers. She refused to let her children fall victim to a mentality that told them they were inferior to anybody else. She made sure they knew how Black people were standing up for their rights not only in the United States but also around the world. She would teach them lessons she’d learned from her grandparents and the Carib Indians she’d met in Grenada.”

Tubbs highlights Louise’s agency in her children’s formation and education. Louise was aware of the institutional injustice and the effects of racism within the educational system, and she countered harmful ideas of racial inferiority that would impact their children’s minds. She ensured to pass on her family legacy, sharing the stories of Grenadian resistance and rebellion. Louise formed her children’s political and racial consciousness, affirming their humanity and the resilience of Black people in claiming their rights and equality. This passage is an example of the book’s subtle education of the white reader, who may not have considered that school education could be damaging to children’s welfare and require unlearning at home.

“Berdis could see the same drive in her son that she saw in herself. She did not know just how far his drive would take him, but she knew he had to write. She would support his desire to do so, no matter the cost. She would risk standing up to her husband, whom even she had to address as ‘Mr. Baldwin,’ to ensure that Jimmy could follow his passion. She’d been kept from her own by her circumstances, and she would not let the same thing happen to her son. She always reminded Jimmy of his abilities, his dignity, his worth.”

Tubbs describes James Baldwin as a reflection of his mother’s character. Like Louise and Alberta, she also reinforced her son’s self-worth and recognized their common love for literary expression. Berdis was a countering force to her husband’s rage, allowing her son to choose love and hope over despair and pursue freedom and creativity. By passing on her love and the value of humanity to James, she helped form a strong voice within the 1960s civil rights movement. Again, Tubbs’s use of the word “always” is an indication that her book is framed as a personal treatise rather than an impartial study.

“In Berdis, Alberta, and Louise, one can see even more clearly just how flawed Moynihan’s assumptions were. These women are just three of the countless examples of Black mothers who allowed their children to thrive even when all odds were stacked against them—Black mothers who created new visions for the world through the abundant love with which they raised their children. They had to believe in something their larger world said was impossible, that they and their children held the power to move mountains.”

Tubbs uses Alberta, Louise, and Berdis directly to counter pervasive stereotypes about Black motherhood, which still exist following the Moynihan Report. Although the report has long been widely discredited in academic and political discourse, the negative effects of its message remain, and Tubbs is at pains to rectify this. By comparing the real-life case studies of her subjects against the judgments of Moynihan’s report, she shows that the report failed to present a comprehensive or balanced view.

“In James, Malcolm, and Martin we witness the direct connection between their heroic work and their mothers. They carried their mothers with them in everything they did. Contrary to previous tellings, these men were not individuals who were born ready to change the world; they are instead part of a larger whole, part of a generational bank of knowledge that was passed on to them. They were products of what their families and environments taught them, and very specifically what their mothers taught them through both their words and their actions.”

Tubbs underscores that the personalities and work of the three emblematic Black men constitute part of a larger tradition of Black activism and resistance in which their mothers had central roles and agency. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin were inspired to transform the world following their mothers’ examples and family legacies. By saying that they were not “born ready,” Tubbs implicitly refutes the style of hero-worship that verges on the messianic or that holds these men up as miraculous geniuses: For her, the truth of their success is more prosaic, being a direct result of their upbringings.

“Alberta’s work did not stop when she got married, it did not stop when she became a mother, it did not stop when her heart was weighed down by anxiety over the danger her children faced, it didn’t even stop when she buried her sons. Alberta used her family teachings, her own training, her love for her family, her deepest pain, and her desire to educate to touch the lives of others and, by doing so, to live a full life.”

This passage is an example of Tubbs’s emphasis on the obscure and overlooked nature of women’s work, traditionally situated in the family and community. With the repetition of “did not stop,” the linguistic structure emphasizes the relentlessness of the demands on Alberta and her tenacity.

“Louise, with her almost century on this earth, would leave an indelible print on the lives of millions, most of whom are still unaware of her name. She was a feminist grassroots community activist whose works present a model for others to follow. Her activism helped to push forward the causes of Black nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and the African diaspora as a whole.”

Tubbs here considers the obscurity of Louise in popular consciousness, especially after the death of her son. This is part of the book’s treatment of how women’s contributions are overlooked and how they are often reduced to an identity based on their male relatives instead of on their individual value and agency.

“These words spoke to the value Berdis lived her life by, love, and the immense difficulty most would have in doing so given everything she had endured. This was her most magical quality, her ability to love and spread love, no matter the circumstance, the person, or the pain she was experiencing.”

Although Berdis was not an activist in the same way as Louise and Alberta, Tubbs shows that her writing and resilience as a Black mother form part of the collective struggle of Black women for liberation and independence. This passage is part of the book’s assertion that women’s influence can take many forms and that a life lived more in the traditional female spheres can be as impactful as one lived with a more public-facing outlook. This plays into Tubbs’s non-comparative brand of feminism, which views all types of female contributions positively and does not seek to rank them.

“The lives and legacies of Louise, Alberta, and Berdis teach both the similarities and the differences among three Black women. All three were selfless and forced to shift their own passions for the sake of their families. This was not something any of the three regretted; instead, it was something they made work for themselves and for their children. It is another example of how they persevered with heads held high in the face of circumstances unique to their identities as Black women and mothers.”

This passage is an example of how Tubbs brings her biographies to a close with a summary of her opinion of them and their impact, underscoring the book’s stated intention in the Introduction. The points she makes here are not new but repeat her argument as a form of emphasis and rhetorical persuasion.

“Black feminists have discussed the dangers of the strong Black woman stereotype for years, pointing to the problems that arise when everyone else assumes that Black women can somehow sustain more pain, that Black women must be tough no matter what struggles come our way, that it is on us to be the backbone of our families and our larger communities. For many, this trope has become a source of pride, and they are happy to wear the badge of honor, putting everyone else’s needs ahead of their own. However, the lives of Alberta, Berdis, and Louise display a balance between unparalleled strength and an acceptance of their own fragility, and therefore their humanity.”

This passage shows how Tubbs moves into a wider political and social discourse in her conclusion to demonstrate the lasting impact of her subjects and, by extension, other Black women in history. Her consideration of the proliferation and reappropriation of stereotypes is thoughtful rather than conclusive, not least because it implicitly departs from her opening comments on Black women’s suffering and resilience. This style takes the reader on a journey, asking them to consider and form their own opinion and approach.