cafeduke's review against another edition

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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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katelynprice's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

3.5


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aargot1's review against another edition

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5.0


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ekmook's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0


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antonique_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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alayamorning's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0


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ehmannky's review against another edition

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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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