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Dear Ancestors: poems and reflections on the African diaspora
In her first collection of poetry, CP Patrick reflects on the history and complexities of the African diaspora. Dear Ancestors is a poetic homage to the past and present.
- GenresPoetryNonfictionRace
75 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2016
17 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
C.P. Patrick
2 books150 followersChristine A. Platt is a historian and storyteller of the African diaspora. She holds a B.A. in Africana Studies from the University of South Florida, M.A. in African Studies from The Ohio State University and received her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law.
Her debut novel, The Truth About Awiti, was published under the penname CP Patrick and won the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal for Multicultural Fiction. The Truth About Awiti is currently used in high schools, colleges and universities to teach the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Christine’s highly anticipated children series, Ana & Andrew, will be published in January 2019 (ABDO Books/Calico Kids).
Christine currently serves as the Managing Director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University under the leadership of National Book Award-winning author, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. She is a proud member of the Association of Black Women Historians and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Additionally, she is an Ambassador for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
You can follow Christine on Instagram via @theafrominimalist, where she interacts with thousands of friends and fans on minimalism and, of course, books.
Her debut novel, The Truth About Awiti, was published under the penname CP Patrick and won the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal for Multicultural Fiction. The Truth About Awiti is currently used in high schools, colleges and universities to teach the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Christine’s highly anticipated children series, Ana & Andrew, will be published in January 2019 (ABDO Books/Calico Kids).
Christine currently serves as the Managing Director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University under the leadership of National Book Award-winning author, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. She is a proud member of the Association of Black Women Historians and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Additionally, she is an Ambassador for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
You can follow Christine on Instagram via @theafrominimalist, where she interacts with thousands of friends and fans on minimalism and, of course, books.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 16, 2019
Poetry is not something I pick up very much but in the past 4 years I’ve had the pleasure of reading some fantastic poetry collections. This year has started with Dear Ancestors Poems & Reflections on the African Diaspora by CP Patrick, author of the compelling novel The Truth About Awiti. There are poems in this collection that come from The Truth About Awiti. I strongly recommend you check it out because it is quite the story with a dash of fantasy and deals with the African diaspora and the transAtlantic slave trade. For the rest of the review https://browngirlreading.com/2019/02/...
August 12, 2021
Uncomfortable Truths
I've always said "ancestral wisdom adorns my flowerbeds." It is in this spirit and tradition that CP Patrick so beautifully penned Dear Ancestors. Patrick pays the ultimate homage to our ancestors - the ancestors of Black people in America who were held captive and transported via the Middle Passage and enslaved for White profit. Patrick also speaks of a time when we loved (and still do), when we were unafraid (and still must be), and when we cared deeply and capably for our own without the specter of slavery (we can and still do).
She speaks of Blackness, resistance, and rightful rage given this historical context. Patrick is unflinching in her depiction of Africans aboard the captor's ships, and encourages the reader to see this experience for what it was - ugly and inhumane. Lastly, she implores the reader to live, fight, possess Joy, in the spirit of our ancestors, even when we think all is lost and our bodies threaten to give way to despair and/or depression. Ultimately, this is a love note to our ancestors, to each other, and to ourselves. It is also an indictment of the commodification of Black bodies. Patrick's Dear Ancestors is not intended to make the accused the least bit comfortable.
Dear Ancestors is for anyone attempting to understand what undergirds, what preserves, and what informs the emotions and underbelly of Black people who find themselves, at one point or another, seeking to understand the ties that bind, and to make use of this "ancestral wisdom" to navigate at a time like this. It is both a searing and necessary read.
I've always said "ancestral wisdom adorns my flowerbeds." It is in this spirit and tradition that CP Patrick so beautifully penned Dear Ancestors. Patrick pays the ultimate homage to our ancestors - the ancestors of Black people in America who were held captive and transported via the Middle Passage and enslaved for White profit. Patrick also speaks of a time when we loved (and still do), when we were unafraid (and still must be), and when we cared deeply and capably for our own without the specter of slavery (we can and still do).
She speaks of Blackness, resistance, and rightful rage given this historical context. Patrick is unflinching in her depiction of Africans aboard the captor's ships, and encourages the reader to see this experience for what it was - ugly and inhumane. Lastly, she implores the reader to live, fight, possess Joy, in the spirit of our ancestors, even when we think all is lost and our bodies threaten to give way to despair and/or depression. Ultimately, this is a love note to our ancestors, to each other, and to ourselves. It is also an indictment of the commodification of Black bodies. Patrick's Dear Ancestors is not intended to make the accused the least bit comfortable.
Dear Ancestors is for anyone attempting to understand what undergirds, what preserves, and what informs the emotions and underbelly of Black people who find themselves, at one point or another, seeking to understand the ties that bind, and to make use of this "ancestral wisdom" to navigate at a time like this. It is both a searing and necessary read.
April 1, 2020
I am a lover of poetry. This collection was recommended by fellow book blogger, Didi from Brown Girl Reading. Each poem in the collection is clear and succinct while telling a portion of the African Diaspora experience. Collectively the poems paint a troubled history but one of endurance of the ancestors. Excellent collection! It is one I will read and reflect on for years to come.
March 23, 2025
I had hoped there would be more poems on Black Excellence but the focus seems to be historical rather than current.
The poems are precise, emotional and incisive. Each one is a window into someone’s story, a snapshot of despair, love, suffering, emancipation.
February 22, 2019
Having enjoyed reading "The Truth About Awiti" I was pleased to come across this collection of poems by the same author.
Read
April 29, 2026I need to sit with this one a while. I do think it was very American in a way and kind of missed the ‘diaspora’ part of it. It did made me reflect on my ancestors so that was good.
***WHO SUCKED ME IN***
Brown Girl Reading on YouTube in their My Top Books of 2019 published on 7 jan. 2020
***Reasons why?***
I think at the end of 2018/2019 I got more interested in my African ancestors via my mum. I can still remember how I talked with my Turkish colleague and she was telling where her people came from. It kinda hurt to talk about it because I couldn't tell her where mine came from. Yes I knew my great-grandmother but that's it. Beyond that we only have family lore. I can't even tell you what country (now at least). While on my father's side it's so goddamn easy to trace. To Find.
But reading about this subject is always intertwined with Slavery. And I can't always do that. It hurts. And not the good kind of hurt. So poetry, even though I don't always get it, fill that spot. It doesn't heal but sometimes my hurt get to have a voice.
This book sounds like it could do that.
***WHO SUCKED ME IN***
Brown Girl Reading on YouTube in their My Top Books of 2019 published on 7 jan. 2020
***Reasons why?***
I think at the end of 2018/2019 I got more interested in my African ancestors via my mum. I can still remember how I talked with my Turkish colleague and she was telling where her people came from. It kinda hurt to talk about it because I couldn't tell her where mine came from. Yes I knew my great-grandmother but that's it. Beyond that we only have family lore. I can't even tell you what country (now at least). While on my father's side it's so goddamn easy to trace. To Find.
But reading about this subject is always intertwined with Slavery. And I can't always do that. It hurts. And not the good kind of hurt. So poetry, even though I don't always get it, fill that spot. It doesn't heal but sometimes my hurt get to have a voice.
This book sounds like it could do that.
December 17, 2016
Where do I start?
This book is the most important book I've read this year, and I think everyone should read it!!
It was beautiful, heartbreaking. It torn my heart and guts out.
The entire concept was thought through with detail and precision.
The words are heart-wrenching!
This is a book of importance!
The poems start in Africa, then they take us on the slave ships, in the cotton fields, all the way to the US today and the fears and hatred black people face every day because of the color of their skin.
I am close to tears. I want to buy this book for people around me, to make them open their eyes.
This book is the most important book I've read this year, and I think everyone should read it!!
It was beautiful, heartbreaking. It torn my heart and guts out.
The entire concept was thought through with detail and precision.
The words are heart-wrenching!
This is a book of importance!
The poems start in Africa, then they take us on the slave ships, in the cotton fields, all the way to the US today and the fears and hatred black people face every day because of the color of their skin.
I am close to tears. I want to buy this book for people around me, to make them open their eyes.
February 11, 2019
Deceptively simple, these poems are a subversive act giving voice to silenced generations. CP Patrick speaks directly to and on behalf of her enslaved ancestors. While reflecting on how much has changed for the better, she mourns how much still needs to change.
At just 75 pages, you can easily finish these poems in under an hour but the impact on you will last far, far longer.
At just 75 pages, you can easily finish these poems in under an hour but the impact on you will last far, far longer.
September 13, 2019
C.P. Patrick did an amazing job on this book. Although its a very short book these poems speak to the reader. I love reading poetry books that you don't have to dissect to understand to find the meaning of the poems. C.P. Patrick you did an amazing job honoring our ancestors.
January 9, 2020
Que delícia esse livro de poesia. Palavras dirigidas aos nossos ancestrais a partir da diáspora negra. Quem quiser dar um saque, tá disponível no Kindle Unlimited.
"did you know
the fight within your blood
would live for generations"
"did you know
the fight within your blood
would live for generations"
February 5, 2020
WOW! This book of poems and reflections really spoke to me. I was able to put words to some of the feelings I’ve had/have in a way I’d not been able to before. Highly recommend this for those who love poetry and for those looking for a way to heal and connect with the ancestors.
February 12, 2019
"my writing will hurt"
And it does. It hurts because it's true, and that's the best kind of writing.
And it does. It hurts because it's true, and that's the best kind of writing.
May 15, 2020
Powerful!
August 18, 2020
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL
Words escape me. BEAUTIFUL. Thank you so much for such a beautiful and well read piece. I read Truth about Awiti and this and now I’m a fan.
Words escape me. BEAUTIFUL. Thank you so much for such a beautiful and well read piece. I read Truth about Awiti and this and now I’m a fan.
September 27, 2020
My kind of poetry
Speaks to me as a black person. I could relate to every single page. Adding this title as one of my fav books of poetry.
Speaks to me as a black person. I could relate to every single page. Adding this title as one of my fav books of poetry.
February 8, 2017
Loved it!
June 19, 2020
Poetry is not usually something that I would normally pick. I must say it did not disappoint! The book takes you on journey of an enslaved people from Africa to America. CP Patrick did such an amazing job capturing glimpse of the African American experience from the motherland to the present day.
March 11, 2017
Book is a quick read, it's so well written and powerful that I will read and read again. Maybe I'll let relatives or friends borrow? Not sure I'd want to be sure they return it. This book is definitely a keeper. It's amazing how the author is able to carefully choose words that tell the story of slavery. For the first time I wondered who had the evil thought to capture Africans. They had to have a plan and people in charge who coordinated the mass abduction. The book begins with slavery - civil rights - revolution, finishes with Black lives matter.
October 22, 2016
I literally held this book to my chest, eyes closed for about 10 minutes after finishing it... just to be sure I let it all soak in! Powerful is what comes to mind. The words jump off the page.. short poems that are so filled with meaning that it takes your mind far beyond the words on the page.. reflective in the moment. C.P. Patrick did an amazing job on her first, very thought provoking collection of poetry reflecting on the African diaspora! This is required reading! Every history, African studies, English Lit / African American Lit classes/programs in all Colleges and Universities should have it on their reading lists!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews