Back in my undergrad days at Spelman College, one of my favorite classes was “Contemp African American Writers” taught by Dr. Sequoia Maner. One of my assignments consisted of reading Patient by Bettina Judd. This book is a collection of poems about the inhumane mistreatment of enslaved women who were treated as experiments.
Excerpt from the book:
When I talk about my work I am asked to speak of
Saartjie Baartman.
I take Saartjie’s hand and ask her: Where would you like
for me to put you? She laughs, or maybe she sighs.
Researchers only ask leading questions. Questions that
lean toward the body sometimes trip over the dead.
(Judd 61)
In the book, you will become familiar with names such as Anarcha Wescott, Betsey Harris, Lucy Zimmerman, Joice Heth, Saartjie Baartman, and Henrietta Lacks. Each of these women endured; pain, loss, and shame. Either treated as patients under J. Marion Sims or as props by P.T. Barnum, Judd views their story as a form of recovery.
When you read Patient, you will feel.
When you read Patient, you will reflect.
When you read Patient you will question.
When you read Patient you will envision a better future in all aspects.
Whether you are a Black woman or not, this book deserves to be on your bookshelf. It is not a hard read but I will give you a disclaimer because it is heavy. This piece of literature correlates modern medical treatments with the horrors of enslavement.
Bettina Judd uses her gift of writing to tell the stories that are meant to be heard. There is a belief that when something happens in the past, it stays there. However, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t impact the betterment of today. Change is necessary, names have meaning, and Judd showcases just that in Patient.
Let me know what you think of the read.
Judd, Bettina. Patient. Black Lawrence Press, 2014.