Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

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

11 reviews

pinto_los_flores's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

This is an important look at history. There are parts that are incredibly hard to listen to but it’s real history and should not be ignored. These women and their sons deserve the focused attention. Tubbs did a wonderful job shedding light on these historical women who shaped the United States.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Confinement, and Grief

overthinkereading's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

“It is clear that Malcolm, Martin, and James were all part of a legacy much larger than themselves, and they had their mothers to thank, not only for their lives but for the direct instruction on how to survive in the world while actively changing it.”

It’s not often that nonfiction brings me to tears, but this work by Anna Tubbs is such a poignant, necessary, and long overdue perspective on the role of the mothers of three of the most recognized men of the modern civil rights movement.

I appreciated how the book was organized, and in listening to the author-narrated audiobook, it really felt more like a series of essays on each woman, versus a thick volume of information.

And ultimately, the unfortunate reality is that thick volumes of information are not available on these women. It is clear that the author worked tirelessly to source every detail shared in these pages, and presented their lives as compassionately and thoughtfully as possible.

The author’s note at the end of the book is a must-read, and a powerful reminder of the legacy these women left their sons, and all of us, in the pursuit of racial and social justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexism, Murder, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Terminal illness

trayslays's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Death of parent, Racism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, and Rape

cafeduke's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

Wow.  

This author's approach, thorough research, and ability to make these three mothers' lives all so gripping and readable is nothing short of inspirational.  She makes me want to be a better mother and teacher to my kids in their honor and the honor of mothers everywhere who have invisibly done the same throughout history.  I will thankfully never know what it's like to be knocked down time and time again by racism.  I will hopefully never be thrown in a mental institution for having the gall to stand up to racist, sexist government officials.  And geez, I am selfish and honest enough to say I hope to never have such successful children that they change the world enough for people to want to harm them.  I'm just glad my kids weren't watching me while I read because the book brought me to tears many times.  The suffering of black people in this country is appalling.  I'd heard many of the stories before, but not all, and not in such a short frame of time.  I sincerely hope the author has a good counselor and support group.  With all the horrors listed to frame the lives and times of these three women old enough to be her grandmother (great-grandmother?), I can only imagine the anguish and sadness coursing through her while at the same time she had all those pregnancy and post-pregnancy hormones amplifying it all.  It took a strong, amazing woman to write such a strong, amazing book.  Kudos and thank you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Classism, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Sexism, Violence, Grief, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Confinement

katelynprice's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

3.5

Reading this book taught me so much and helped shape my perspective. It's definitely academic writing, and some of it felt a bit disjointed. Overall, I loved what the author set out to do and think she successfully got her point across. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Murder, Hate crime, Violence, Death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

misscassylee's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Slavery, Sexual assault, Racism, and Rape

alyssa_s10's review

informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Listen to the audio book version and I cannot recommend it enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, and Hate crime

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Slavery

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, and Cancer

aargot1's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, Murder, and Cancer

Moderate: Pregnancy and Slavery

alayamorning's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Body horror, and Torture

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Rape, Grief, and Gun violence

ehmannky's review

emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

Even if this book had done nothing else, it has taught me the names of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Birdis Baldwin. I can honestly say that even though I knew that Alberta was killed and that Louise had been forcible institutionalized, I hadn't really registered these events on their own terms. Tubbs brings them front and center, as they were in their own families and lives, and gives their accomplishments and feelings time to breathe and be praised the way that their sons' were. It's a lovely and heartbreaking and inspiring read. 

The biography of three women in a relatively short book seems like it would be too much, but I think Tubbs does an excellent job with making do with what little historical sources that she had. It's as comprehensive as it could have been, and she ties the lives of these three incredibly different women rather well by dividing the book into broad themes of motherhood.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Homophobia, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault