“Year Of X” Marks Mothers’ Resilience

“Through individual agendas that battle oppression and in the uniting of efforts, Black women have found a way, even when seemingly impossible, to give life,” writes author Anna Malaika Tubbs in the opening paragraph of The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation.

Tubbs’ book is the third to be discussed this year in Kulturally LIT’s monthly series, ​“The Year of X Book Club.” It had a major impact on the readers who came to Possible Futures to discuss it Thursday night with its insight into the lives of three women — Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin — who birthed, shaped, and influenced three of the most influential figures of the 20th century.

The information and stories presented in this book offer not only essential additions to the history of those three men, their mothers, and their families, but also a starting point for conversations about the history of America, specifically the roles of Black women in America. These stories need to be told in order to not just understand where we have been, but to contemplate where we are now and even where we are going. 

The theme of this year’s club as well as other events held by Kulturally LIT is ​“The Year of X: Radical and Revolutionary Reading.” In the midst of last year’s celebration of James Baldwin, Kulturally LIT Founder and Executive Director IfeMichelle Gardin decided that this year they would focus on Malcolm X and Medgar Evers, both of whom would have turned 100 this year. The books chosen for each month focus on either one or the other in some capacity, and included biographies, poetry, and even a graphic novel. 

“Both of their legacies are in rights for humanity, for everybody being equal,” Gardin said. 

Thursday night a dozen people sat in a circle in the front of the Edgewood Avenue bookstore and gathering space to exchange their critiques, favorite quotes, and more from 2021’s The Three Mothers.

Gardin and Lauren Anderson, owner of Possible Futures, led the group with kindness and grace, beginning with introductions where they also asked each attendee to share what brought them joy in addition to what brought them to the book club. One attendee said the club was the ​“highlight” of her month, while Gardin herself said the fact that the mission of Kulturally Lit is ​“being fulfilled” is what brought her joy. Book clubs can often be a certain kind of beast, but in the kind and capable hands of Gardin and Anderson this one was as warm and welcoming as Sugar, the book space’s canine mascot. 

It was acknowledged that the book included some stories of violence that were difficult to read and digest. Participants also acknowledged that the stories were ones that otherwise may not have been told. There was a discussion of how many of us — including this reporter — had no idea until reading this book that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s brother A.D. mysteriously drowned in his pool only 15 months after the assassination of MLK, or that his mother Alberta had been shot and killed in her church in 1974. Many of us relayed to each other our shock and dismay at not knowing these facts previously, which led to a discussion of what is and isn’t taught on schools as well as how often there is this thought that after a well-known figure dies, their story just ends. Everyone agreed that the author worked exhaustively in this book to cover as much ground as she could regarding the families of these figures, from their mothers’ childhood days (and even information about their grandparents and birthplaces) to their lives after their sons were gone, leading up to their deaths. 

Another discussion point of the evening was the contextualizing of the stories and the inclusion of the obstacles each woman was presented with. One attendee mentioned that they appreciated the author ending the book with ​“honoring the resilience” of the women. 

It was mentioned how the reader could see the mothers’ ​“pouring into” their children that made them who they became, giving ​“context and depth” to their legacy, and how everything is cause and effect. For example, how Berdis Baldwin’s building up and support of her son James when he was ridiculed by his stepfather could be what gave him the ​“well of love” he drew from when sharing with and caring for others throughout his life. 

Everyone also agreed that the author, who wrote of her own pregnancy, made the book ​“a real intimate experience” by doing so. The evening itself also felt as intimate and necessary as the book itself, a discussion that generated more connection and learning while also providing the much-needed joy that comes from sharing such experiences. Gardin noted that this has been her mission — and passion — all along.

“It is so important for me to keep Kulturally LIT going,” she said earlier, emphasizing the importance of people getting to know more about themselves and others.

“The ignorance of not knowing makes someone the other,” she added. 

The Year of X Book Club meets at Possible Futures at 6:30 p.m. every third Thursday of the month, and the book to be discussed can be found via Kulturally LIT and/or Possible Futures. Kulturally LIT has a wealth of programming in addition to the book club going on throughout 2025. Please see their website for more details and/or to sign up for updates.