Survival Guide for Humans Learned from Marine Mammals with Alexis Pauline Gumbs
09/05/22 • 29 min
Are you drowning? The start of the school year can be stressful for parents, teachers and students. And this summer hasn’t been smooth sailing for many of us either — with extreme temperatures, a global pandemic and other crises. How do we take a breath? Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ UNDROWNED: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, draws on the practices of marine mammals — they are the experts, after all, in not drowning. (The harbor seal can slow its breath to about four beats per minute!) The book landed her the prestigious 2022 Whiting Prize for nonfiction, and now she is working on a biography of Audre Lorde. Plus, she is bringing people together through Soul Sanctuary, retreats that center a Black, feminist and queer vision. Join Laura and Gumbs for a conversation on how we can all practice “another way to breathe.” Music featured in the middle of the radio show and podcast is the title track of Samora Pinderhughes’ “Transformation Suite”.
“This is an offering towards evolution, towards our evolution, towards the possibility that instead of continuing the trajectory of slavery, entrapment, separation, and domination, and making our atmosphere unbreakable, we might instead practice another way to breathe.” - Alexis Pauline Gumbs
“The context of undrowning, breathing in unbreathable circumstances is what we do every day, in the choke hold of racial, gendered, ableist capitalism. We are still undrowning. And by we, I don't only mean people like myself whose ancestors specifically survive the middle passage.” - Alexis Pauline Gumbs
GUEST:
Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Poet, Independent Scholar & Activist, author of “Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals” published by AK Press as part of adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy Series
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ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel
Are you drowning? The start of the school year can be stressful for parents, teachers and students. And this summer hasn’t been smooth sailing for many of us either — with extreme temperatures, a global pandemic and other crises. How do we take a breath? Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ UNDROWNED: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, draws on the practices of marine mammals — they are the experts, after all, in not drowning. (The harbor seal can slow its breath to about four beats per minute!) The book landed her the prestigious 2022 Whiting Prize for nonfiction, and now she is working on a biography of Audre Lorde. Plus, she is bringing people together through Soul Sanctuary, retreats that center a Black, feminist and queer vision. Join Laura and Gumbs for a conversation on how we can all practice “another way to breathe.” Music featured in the middle of the radio show and podcast is the title track of Samora Pinderhughes’ “Transformation Suite”.
“This is an offering towards evolution, towards our evolution, towards the possibility that instead of continuing the trajectory of slavery, entrapment, separation, and domination, and making our atmosphere unbreakable, we might instead practice another way to breathe.” - Alexis Pauline Gumbs
“The context of undrowning, breathing in unbreathable circumstances is what we do every day, in the choke hold of racial, gendered, ableist capitalism. We are still undrowning. And by we, I don't only mean people like myself whose ancestors specifically survive the middle passage.” - Alexis Pauline Gumbs
GUEST:
Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Poet, Independent Scholar & Activist, author of “Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals” published by AK Press as part of adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy Series
We do not accept advertisements or government funding. We are independent movement media for the people, and funded by the people! Become a member by making a one time donation or make it a monthly contribution at https://LauraFlanders.org/donate
Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.
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Previous Episode
Full Uncut Conversation- Ibram X. Kendi: How to Make America Antiracist?
(This full conversation is from the episode 'Ibram X. Kendi: How to Make America Antiracist?')
The fight over what can and can’t be taught in schools is shaping up to be one of the most controversial issues in a pivotal mid-term election year. White voters are being mobilized to ban books, censor honest discussions of US history and current day racism, and organize against a fake spectre of “critical race theory” being taught in schools. So what is to be done? In this episode, Laura and co-hosts Sara Lomax-Reese and Mitra Kalita interview Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, one of the most visible and vocal proponents of anti-racist education. Dr. Kendi shot to prominence with his 2019 New York Times bestseller How to be an Antiracist, making a name for himself as one of the most renowned antiracist scholars in the country and winning a MacArthur “genius” grant in 2021. His latest picture book, the New York Times bestseller Antiracist Baby, has made headlines, even being held aloft by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. How does the reaction against antiracist education hurt us all?
Guests
Ibram X. Kendi, Director, Boston University Center for Antiracist Research
S. Mitra Kalita (Co-Host), CEO & Co-Founder, URL Media
Sara Lomax-Reese (Co-Host), Co-Founder, URL Media
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Next Episode
A.M. Homes: “The Unfolding” of American Democracy
(Full Episode Notes are at Patreon.com/theLFShow) Salman Rushdie praised A.M. Homes’ latest novel, The Unfolding as, “A terrific black comedy, written almost entirely in pitch-perfect dialogue, that feels terrifyingly close to the unfunny truth.” In this episode, A.M. and Laura discuss political fiction, women writers and the unraveling of American democracy. Homes is an American writer best known for her novel The End of Alice, about a convicted child molester and murderer and Music for Torching, about the run-up to a school shooting. The Unfolding, written in the decade before the January 6th Insurrection, is similarly anticipatory. It follows a Republican donor plotting a mob assault on Washington. It was published this September 6th. Also included, a clip of a solidarity reading at the New York Public Library in support of Rushdie. And a commentary from Laura on the reality journalism of the late Barbara Ehrenreich. Music featured in the middle of the podcast: “Miracle” by Ultra Naté from her new album “Ultra” courtesy of Peace Biscuit.
Guest, A.M. Homes: Author of over 30 books including The Unfolding; recipient of the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction; contributing editor to Vanity Fair and BOMB Magazine, and appears regularly in several publications including, The New York Times, Harpers, Art Forum and The New Yorker. She also writes for film and television including writing the adaptation for Showtime of her first novel JACK. She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University.
*Books by A.M. Homes:
“The Unfolding” , Find More About the Book Here
“This Book Will Save Your Life”, Find More About the Book Here
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