Bettina Judd: You Be Lucy, I’ll Be Betsey
You Be Lucy, I’ll Be Betsey
The nurse with the natural compliments me on my locs.
We begin in that nappy-hair banter, when did you start
yours? All of this happening between my thighs.
Between speculum and cotton swab, I just had to stop
Running to the salon. Between the manual test in the
vagina, You’re going to feel a pinch, and the manual test in
the anus, It’s so much easier to manage this way. Nothing
said of my outburst. Nothing about the angry patient
on this floor, Yours look so healthy, nothing about why
she tends to me after that. Almost done. Just two black
women and a speculum, each asking the other, When did
you get free?
Discussion Questions
What is your reaction to “You Be Lucy, I’ll Be Betsey”? How is power reconfigured in this poem, especially compared to the first?
How do you interpret these lines about the narrator’s anger? What do they suggest about patients’ experiences and the role of bias in healthcare?
Dr. Judd’s poems demonstrate how the past is ever present in our lives and in the practice of medicine. In what ways do you feel history alive in your healthcare experiences?
Reflections from #MedHumChat
“The banter bet the patient and clinician reinforces the importance of workforce diversity in healthcare. We know that racial concordance bet clinician and patient improves health outcomes. The majority of Black patients are cared for by non-Black clinicians.”—@dr_uche_bee
“I found the last line so powerful - When did you get free? They were using a tool developed by Sims, but on their own terms, with consent, as a way of promoting health rather than violence. It felt like a reclaiming of power to me”—@colleenmfarrell
“There is a joining in the experience of being black women and yet an unequal balance of power. The nurse wields the instruments and steers the conversation--chooses what to acknowledge and what to ignore. Oppressed becomes oppressor.”—@allison_tandem
“This made me reflect back on how "Disempowerment begins with failures of communication" (Karen Labacqz, 1994). So when patients, like this Black woman, are already feeling an imbalance in power, it's all the more important to communicate well & mitigate the differential”—@LanceShaver
“Both have probably had similar experiences inside and outside of health care. There is comfort in being cared for by someone who looks like you, who may have similar experiences to you. A safeness.”—@DrOniBee
About this #MedHumChat
“You Be Lucy, I’ll Be Betsey” was paired with “The Researcher Discovers Anarcha, Betsey, Lucy,” another poem from Bettina Judd’s book, Patient, for a #MedHumChat discussion August 21, 2019 exploring The Living History of the “Father of Modern Gynecology.”
We were honored to be joined by special guest Dr. Oni Blackstock, MD, MHS (@DrOniBee), Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She is also a primary care physician, HIV specialist, and researcher. You can learn more about her here.
The pieces for this chat, along with the discussion questions, were selected by Margot Hedlin.
About the Author
Dr. Bettina Judd (@bettinajudd) is an interdisciplinary writer, artist and performer whose research focus is on Black women's creative production and our use of visual art, literature, and music to develop feminist thought. You can learn more about here here.