Undrowned, Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Animals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

For those among us gasping for air these past few weeks, Undrowned, Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs  is a perfect companion to this moment. If you have not yet heard of it, please add to cart. Preferably from an indie bookstore.

For some, this moment of threat is new. Accustomed to the protection of institutional power, the recent development seems unprecedented. For others, being a target is the way it has almost always been, at least since ancestors were stolen. Being OG in this doesn’t inoculate anyone from grief, and newbies are entitled to their pain. This sucks for everyone (at least half the population). 

Add the author to your IG feed @alexispauline to hear their invitation to envision what we want for our first 100 days. We have to yes/and this moment. Yes we are grieving, and we will resist.  Let’s keep and nurture our power where we have it. We need our imaginations for what lies ahead. 

Let us all apprentice ourselves to the air breathing selkies who live amongst fish.

Read Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ short meditations when your brain works in the fleeting moments between waves of sorrow and threats of panic attack. The author’s observations and reflections of the resilient behaviors marine mammals exhibit in their seemingly inhospitable environment may help to guide us forward.

Some of us may take on water and some of us won’t survive. 

Prentis Hemphill said “The person who makes a courageous act is a person concerned with something beyond their individual body.” 

Now is a time to find inspiration.

Now is a time to build courage.

Now is a time to connect to self and connect with others.

Now is a time to take stock.

Now is a time to get clear about what we each have to give.