Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals

Marine mammals have been the victims of capitalism and colonialism, with a number of species being pushed to the edge of extinction in pursuit of profit. Undrowned is a beautifully written book that Alexis calls a ‘book length mediation’ for social movements and our whole species based on the ‘subversive and transformative guidance of marine mammals.’ 

The book asks us to rethink what it means to be human and draws on models from the natural world as inspiration for social justice in our societies. Alexis is inspired by radical Black thinkers and her work asks us to challenge colonial and capitalist thinking that threatens our environment. She asks us to learn form marine mammals when resisting colonialism and other systems of oppression, by learning to breathe, listen and remember across species. 

Title: Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals

Author: Alexis Pauline Gumbs

ISBN: 978-1849353977

Series: Undrowned is part of the AK Press Emergent Strategy Series

Publisher: AK Press

Alexis is a queer Caribbean-heritage poet, activist and writer. Her education is from Banard College and Duke University. She is author of Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity and coeditor of Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines and the Founder and Director of Eternal Summer of the Black Feminist Mind, an educational program based in Durham, North Carolina. Alexis is a 2023 Windham-Campbell Prize Winner in Poetry. Her most recent book, Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals won the 2022 Whiting Award in Nonfiction. She has study and writing classes, meditations, and webinars on offer on her website here. Follow her on Instagram here.

“I am related to all marine mammals. I am related to all those in captivity.”

Abdourahamane Ly, guest curator for Veganuary at Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, has been vegan for the past seven years now. He is extremely passionate about animal rights and encouraging more humans, especially Africans, to go vegan. He was born in Guinea in West Africa but spent the last 13 years in China. He is currently in Rwanda spreading the vegan message. You can follow him on Instagram at @fulanivegan and X at @fulanivegan.