“Black Feminist Lessons” with Alexis Pauline Gumbs

This episode takes us deep, deep into the queer ocean. Alexis Pauline Gumbs submerges us in Black feminist thought, takes us on a deep dive into queer creativity, and, most importantly, allows us to rethink our breathing through gills, lungs, mouths, and bills. Listen now to learn about how Audre Lorde, June Jordan and M. Jacqui Alexander have influenced Alexis Pauline’s work and why marine mammals play such a central part in her writing.Follow @alexispauline and @queerlitpodcast on Instagram and a mystical manatee will visit you in a dream. References to Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ work:UndrownedM ArchiveDubSpillRevolutionary MotheringSurvival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde (2024) Other references:Auburn Avenue Research LibraryBlack Panther PartyElaine Brown’s A Taste of PowerAudre LordeJune JordanHelen Oyeyemi’s The Opposite House Ada Gay GriffinMichelle ParkersonA Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre LordeBriona Simone JonesDubSylvia WynterCombahee River CollectiveBarbara SmithJulie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the AtticM. Jacqui Alexander’s Pedagogies of CrossingI Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across SexualitiesAudre Lorde’s The Black Unicorn Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:What fascinates Alexis Pauline Gumbs about archival research and what does she find in archives that you cannot find in books?Why is Audre Lorde an important figure in queer writing and Black feminism?Why is breathing central to Alexis’ thinking?How does Alexis describe the meaning and potential of ‘queerness’?Which mammals do you feel most connected to and how might this connection shift the way you think about your non-human environment?