Samuel Baca-Henry

Samuel Baca-Henry is a vegan Animal Liberation activist and author of Lament of Hathor, which recovers ancient voices of protest against animal exploitation. His work shows that advocacy for animals isn't just modern—it's ancient, intersectional, and revolutionary.

Drawing on his award-winning philosophy background (University of Chicago), Samuel connects the dots between animal and human oppression, patriarchy, and imperialism. He's given invited talks at major universities including Rutgers, UT Austin, and the University of Utah (co-keynote with philosopher David Chalmers), bringing academic rigor to grassroots advocacy.

Samuel's activism spans from shoveling poop at farmed animal sanctuaries to direct action in the streets for animals and humans.

Lament of Hathor is his debut book.

samuelhenry@gmail.com

Lament of Hathor

About

Samuel Baca-Henry's debut book, Lament of Hathor, offers a unique perspective on animal rights & liberation, drawing inspiration from ancient Egyptian and adjacent Bronze Age cultural mythologies, archaeology, history, geopolitics, economics, power, oppression, and resistance.

The book centers on Hathor, an Egyptian cow goddess associated with motherhood, love, healing, magic, dance, and music.

She laments the exploitation of animals, particularly cows. She is joined by cow goddesses/gods, sacred cows, and prophets from several other cultures, religions, and literary traditions (e.g. Kamadhenu, Goshorun, Nanshe, Manu, Zechariah, Amos, Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Asoka, and many more).

Baca-Henry's narrative weaves together lamentations, proverbs, historical and literary references, and messages for today and all time. It is a thought-provoking exploration of the interconnectedness of human and animal suffering.

The book challenges readers to see the historical roots of human and non-human oppression and an ancient lineage of resistance.

Lament of Hathor's unique blend of mythology, history, and social justice themes offers a fresh perspective on animal rights.

This book is sold at cost – the lowest amount Amazon allows (no royalties to them or me).

Accolades

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"Samuel Baca-Henry's book Lament of Hathor is REALLY FUCKING WEIRD. If you are PETA-level passionate about Animal Rights, if you care about Middle Eastern/African history in general, and/or sacred texts, and/or just ancient history (like over 10,000 years old shit), this book is for you. This is an excellent read. It's really, really compelling. They keep it short and quick. So even if it's like 300 or so pages, they move fast and you're learning a massive amount. What a weirdo...and what a fascinating, strange gift of an artist in this city. So anyway, HIGHLY RECOMMEND."

- Katie Lee Ellison, The Seattle Stranger (alt-weekly newspaper)

"I don't understand this book. It's just so interesting that I'm going to tell you about it. It's really elaborate. It's quite beautiful. It's full of illustrations. If you're interested in religion and animals, I don't think you should miss this one! What a thing to have sat down to do!"

- Mariann Sullivan, co-host Our Hen House (podcast); Fmr Professor, Animal Law @ Lewis & Clark Law School’s Center for Animal Law Studies, NYU Law School, Columbia Law School, Brooklyn Law School, and Cardozo Law School; Fmr Board Member, Farm Sanctuary and The Animals Agenda.

"Everyone should know about this book!"

- Cody Dolan, Vegan activist and PETA/peta2 2024 Libby Award winner for Student Action of the Year.

"Animal Rights, mythology, and archaeology...so interesting."

- Kathy Freston, Award-winning vegan author, activist, and plant-based nutritionist. Multi-time guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show (and got Oprah Winfrey and her team to do a one month Vegan challenge).

"A brilliant book on the interconnectedness of animal exploitation and human oppression."

- Davy Divine, Co-founder and Director of Operations at Cloven Heart Farm Sanctuary. Author of two books: Charlie's New Family and One Day I Want to Have a Farm Sanctuary.

"Amazing book. It's such an intriguing book full of interesting facts and photos about Ancient Egypt as well as the story of a goddess who shows empathy toward the plight of animals."

- Vegan Theology

Goals

To awaken the cognitive dissonances people suppress about animals.
To show how the same systems that exploit animals have exploited humans and the environment for millennia. With this, to: (a) help bring animal activism into broader social justice advocacy and (b) show animal-only activists the intertwined contexts of oppression and liberation.
To demonstrate ancient lineages of animal activism. I want to uplift the voices of people across millennia who advocated for animals—to honor them and inspire future activists.
To use the book to support the movement–giving it to sanctuaries and grassroots groups to use in fundraising so that the book materially serves the movements–not just philosophically or artistically.

Inspiration

In autumn 2023, my parents invited me on a trip to Egypt. On the second day, we crossed the Nile from Luxor to the west side and started at the temple of Hatshepsut, one of the female pharaohs. She had a massive mortuary temple complex in this area. The sun sets in the west—a common symbol of death and the afterlife.

Walking around, I suddenly saw a carving on one of the walls: the goddess Hathor in cow form nursing Hatshepsut as a small person. I knew Hathor, a cow goddess, symbolized motherly love among other things.

It hit me immediately in the heart. People looked at all the animals and asked, "Which one is a great mother that we can have as a symbol for motherhood?" They saw the cow with her calf and chose her.

Yet the way we (and the ancients) treat actual cows and their calves is horrendous—within the dairy, meat, leather, rodeo, transport, and other industries.

That contradiction, hypocrisy, and symbolic use for power all hit me at once. I called my mother over, told her what I felt–how they revered the cow as the perfect mother while we tear calves from their mothers in dairy farms. We stood together and got a picture. I knew something was happening, though I didn't fully understand it at the time.

Once I got back, it stayed in my mind. I couldn't stop feeling it.

That feeling birthed my book and mission.

On Distributing this Book

This book is currently self-published.

I don’t know whether in the future I’ll pursue a more traditional publishing route for greater reach and influence. But I don’t like the idea of waiting years for a traditional publishing cycle.

I come from a DIY music background where you don’t wait for others to let you make things happen.

So I have just been printing copies myself and giving them away in Little Free Libraries, vegan cafes, and giving them to sanctuaries to auction off or raffle to raise funds.

If you would like to help distribute copies of this book, I’d be happy to send you some free of charge. Please email me at samuelhenry@gmail.com. You can also download the full book as a PDF or .epub file below.

And if you really want to buy a physical copy of the book, you can purchase one below.