Day 7. Sylvia Wynter Reimagining the Human

Rewriting the Story of What It Means to Be Human

Her groundbreaking theories center on decolonizing knowledge and redefining “the human” beyond the narrow, exclusionary ideal established by the West—what she calls “Man-as-human.” Wynter invites us to imagine a new conception of being, rooted in plurality, Blackness, and the lived realities of colonized peoples.

“Being human is not a noun. It’s a verb. It is a practice.” — Sylvia Wynter

From Literature to Liberation

Wynter’s interdisciplinary genius weaves together history, philosophy, science, literature, and cultural theory. Her 1994 essay, “Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom,” is considered foundational to contemporary decolonial studies and Black studies. In it, she critiques the ways European colonial logic created a version of humanity that excludes Black, Indigenous, and non-European people.

“We are genres of the human that have been made ‘other’ to serve an order that keeps itself invisible.” — Sylvia Wynter

Her work insists that we are not bound by inherited narratives of who counts as fully human—and that the survival of our species may depend on reimagining what it means to be human at all.

Stories of Transformation and Truth

Wynter was one of the first Black Caribbean women to teach in American universities in fields dominated by white men. As a professor at Stanford and other institutions, she mentored generations of scholars of color and transformed the fields of postcolonial theory, Black feminist thought, and critical race theory.
She reminds us that the project of freedom is not only social and political—it is epistemic, a struggle over the ways we know and define our world.

“There is no apocalypse that is not also an opportunity to re-script the terms of our reality.” — Sylvia Wynter

Learn More About Sylvia Wynter

📚 Selected Works:
– “Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom” (1994)

– “No Humans Involved: An Open Letter to My Colleagues” (1992)

– On Being Human as Praxis, edited by Katherine McKittrick (2015)

🎧 Watch & Listen:
–  Digidocs: Sylvia Winter: Beyond Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WufVxu6EYao)

– The Podcast  Brooklyn Institute for Social Breathing (https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/podcasts/podcast-for-social-research-episode-87-deviant-matter)

Today’s Reflection

Sylvia Wynter calls us not just to resist systems of oppression—but to rethink the foundations of knowledge, power, and identity. Her legacy urges us to imagine new forms of life, community, and belonging outside colonial scripts.

💬 How might your own story of being human change if you began not with “man” but with many?

💬 In what ways do Sylvia Wynter’s theories help us understand the world that we live in?

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the visionary work of Dr. Patricia Bath.

Join us each day this month as we spotlight a different Caribbean American whose legacy calls us to reflect, learn, and celebrate. These stories are about community, culture, and the contributions that come from the rich intersections of heritage and homeland. Our weekly themes will help guide us through different aspects of Caribbean American influence—from activism to art, invention to entrepreneurship—creating a mosaic of identity that is as joyful as it is complex.

Learn More: Stanford University hosts the Sylvia Wynter Archive, featuring audio, written works and more resources.

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