Come By Here

"'Come by Here' is both reminder and invitation. By bringing readers home with them to the Geechee Coast, Neesha Powell-Ingabire's essays show us that where we come from is powerful magic, strong enough that there are forces at work to keep us from our personal and collective histories. And that you have never ventured too far to lay claim to your roots. This book is Black. Queer. Southern. And unapologetic in its insistence that we serve as witness." -Minda Honey, author of The Heartbreak Years

"In Come by Here, Neesha Powell-Ingabire explores both a family history she knows well, and a Gullah Geechee cultural history she is only just learning, asking some of the same questions that haunt so many of us who hail from small places: What do we carry with us? What do we leave behind? What do we owe to the people and places who shape us? Powell-Ingabire interrogates the impacts of systemic and environmental racism on her part of coastal Georgia in clear, incisive prose. What's more, she offers us a path to healing by modeling her own journey of learning and claiming her history, grounding herself in the land and the practices of her ancestors, and fighting to preserve their legacies." -Neema Avashia, author of Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place

"Part storytelling, part truth-seeking, Neesha Powell-Ingabire is a dynamic voice who offers a unique understanding of the contemporary Black South through Gullah culture. A mesmerizing read." -Regina N. Bradley, author of Chronicling Stankonia: the Rise of the Hip Hop South

"As the author sheds light on the oppression and resistance woven into the foundational fabric of her homeland, including effective Black uprisings, land ownership, and advocacy, she offers striking, unsettling insights into how this heritage has impacted her own sense, criticism, and acceptance of self. Powell-Ingabire knows well the danger of a co-opted narrative and has traveled a path to demand control of her own." -Kirkus Reviews