“Sharks Don’t Sink Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist” by Jasmin Graham
Review
The thesis of the book is on 109 - 111. I’ve linked some quotes on my blog.
A well written quick read that I enjoyed cover to cover. Graham was able to write a book that no one else could because of how she carefully weaves her life throughout the book. Most of the chapters talk about childhood, college/graduate school, and present events. We’ll hear about where Graham is now and where she’d like to go then we’ll hear what/how her past experiences affected her.
It was a lovely read and it really flew by. I appreciated how she was able to articulate how her identity positively and negatively affected different experiences in her life. It was heartening to hear how well her endeavors are going.
Quotes
“Trees, coral, sharks - all of which require a lot of time and energy to develop into highly efficient or complex organisms - aren’t able to recover at a rate faster than we humans are removing them from the environment.” (15)
“So I don’t just love sharks, I feel for them. I admire their persistence, their resilience, their ability to survive, to keep moving forward; but I’m also laser-focused on their vulnerabilities, their need for our protection. I see myself and my people in sharks. All too often Black people are perceived and treated much like sharks: feared, misunderstood, and brutalized, often without recourse; assumed to be threatening when so often we’re the ones under threat; portrayed unfairly in the media, so that others are predisposed to have a negative interaction with us.” (16)
“It’s about what happens when someone sidesteps the system - a system that isn’t made for them and doesn’t value them - to create another way.” (18)
“While it’s always hard to balance the needs of the marine population with human needs, and as much as I want to protect the lift in our oceans, I never want that to be at the expense of subsistence fishers or their need to feed their communities. There’s sufficient abundance for marine life to thrive while humans thrive, too.” (37)
“At the same time, the negative stereotypes and fearmongering surrounding these creatures felt eerily familiar to me as someone who’s grown up Black in a country where we’re assumed to be threatening, even when we’re just minding our business.” (50)
“I was already pretty uncomfortable, since this was my first time at the conference, I didn’t know anyone, it was still very early in my career, and no one else looked like me. And then I found myself in a room full of white people - the majority of whom were older men - discussing whether the organization needed a code of conduct around touching others without consent or bullying, harassing, or discriminating against other members.” (54)
“My experience with AES feels like a microcosm of what happens in the larger world with white supremacy and the patriarchy: white men do whatever they want, and the rules are for other people. Then people like me “fight back” while adhering to the rules that were created to keep in check, while the white man who doesn’t think they apply to him openly flouts them.” (88 - 89)
“I learned that just because something is one way doesn’t mean it’s the right way, and it doesn’t mean it can’t change. I learned that you don’t need to change the world - you just need to change your small piece of the world.” (93)
“I don’t know about you, but I want to do more than just survive. I want to live. I want my life to have purpose and meaning. I want to leave the world better than I found it.” (110)
“A lot of people have negative feelings about the idea of quitting: they believe you should never give up, even if you want to. But I truly feel like the world would be a much better place if more people simply quit what did not serve them, leaving space for what did matter, even if it looked less prestigious or impressive to others.” (122)
“Just because you start down one road doesn’t mean you have to keep going down it if it no longer fills you up.” (126)
“Whether the problem is racism, sexism, or the destruction of the natural world, inaction can be just as harmful as negative action. Doing nothing, by default, supports the status quo.” (191
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