Black History Month: Black Herbalists and Their Legacies through Books
By Carolyn Jones

Black herbalism has a rich history that is rooted in the Motherland. Although enslaved Africans were forced to survive under extremely inhumane conditions, they continued their traditions of using teas, powders, and salves made from plants and animals-- also incorporated into their spiritual lives with charms, prayers, and conjurations. Their sociopolitical perspectives were shaped according to where their captors docked their ships. 

The treasure trove of books by Black herbalists is exhaustive, offering a scholarship that weaves the traumatic history of a people together with the botanical medicine that sustained them.

In Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors , author Carolyn Finney acknowledges that Africans believed in “good use” of the land and the connection between the health of the land and their community. 

Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing by Michelle Elizabeth Lee offers a walk down memory lane with interviews of African American healers, illustrating how Black people survived the tests of time by merging their knowledge of healing and medicinal practices with Europeans and Native Americans.

In Secret Doctors: Ethnomedicine of African Americans, author Wonda Fontenut links traditional African beliefs and practices with current African American traditions. 

Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, Kimberly Ruffin, explores a theory of “ecological burden and beauty” in her book,  Black on Earth: African American Ecoliterary Traditions. She chronicles ecological insights from the antebellum era to the 21st century, documented by novels, essays, celebrated artists, and the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) slave narratives. 

Clara Adams, a woman who was enslaved in Alabama, is resurrected in this passage:

“…I wants to see de dawn break over de black ridge and de twilight settle…spreadin’ a sort of orange hue over de place. I wants to walk de path th’ew de woods…an’ see de rabbits an’ watch de birds an’ listen to frogs at night.”

Sticks, Stones, Roots, and Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo, and Conjuring With Herbs by Stephanie Rose Bird brings it all home by introducing the reader to jiridon, the science of the trees. Masters of jiridon are herbalists and adept ecologists, tree whisperers who understand, live with and study a single tree and soul.

Bookshop is an affiliate link and purchasing a book from Bookshop.org not only supports small, independent bookstores, but a small % comes to HWB. Thank you for your support. 

Carolyn Jones
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Carolyn Jones is a Holistic Health Educator and Chaplain who teaches the art of self-care and practices a ministry of presence. She is licensed by the New York State Chaplain Task Force and serves the community as an herbalist, a certified aromatherapist and reflexologist. Respected by her peers, she embraces and is supported by a strong community of traditional and non-traditional healers who follow uniquely different paths that merge at the crossroads of community health. Carolyn is the Coordinator of The Healing Project, a Project under HWB: The Healing Project and is on the HWB Board of Directors as Secretary. 

Review by Lucretia Jones
January 2021

This book is an in-depth historical study of questionable medical experimentation and ethics during the transatlantic enslavement of Africans. The author examines the years of 1760 to the mid-1800s and details the relationships between enslaved Africans, Amerindians, and European colonialists and medical practitioners. The increasing popularity of science is discussed amidst the overt and subtle backdrop of a treacherous period in human history with effects that stretch into our present day. 
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I appreciate the compilation of journal entries and medical papers written by physicians of the time. I especially enjoyed the quotations gleaned from direct contact with enslaved Africans. I found myself amused when presented with colonial doctors’ awe and simultaneous befuddlement at the efficacy of various cures employed by Amerindians and enslaved Africans. One such cure being a remedy for tetanus made by an enslaved healer on the former Governor of Cayenne’s plantation, a combination of plants kept hidden and therefore untested through scientific method. There is another instance of an “Indian woman” whose remedy for snakebites was “always” successful, her cure also undocumented. 

While understandable and necessary in the retelling of such atrocities, I found the author’s matter of fact tone a bit chilling and disconcerting. Be advised, this book is focused more on an academic look at a period in our collective history rather than moral commentary. I admit a personal bias; I like my plant books with pictures and drawings of plants. You won’t find that here. Instead, a few maps detailing the routes of human trafficking and barriers to shared information await you. The title is a clever misnomer. We aren’t being let in on any secrets here; rather we are witnesses to the chagrin and racialism of colonial doctors. 

Overall, while not what I expected, or perhaps naively hoped for, I will most likely find myself returning to this book for historical reference. If you’re looking for a compendium of folk remedies, I advise you to look elsewhere for insight from those more intimately involved with enslaved Africans and their descendants. Those wielding violent power over another group of human beings close themselves off from knowledge of the very cures implied in the title of this book. The story telling in Secret Cures is extensive enough that it allows us to assemble a narrative and successfully frame our sense of the era. If any conclusions are to be drawn by Ms. Schiebinger’s book, one might be the necessity of and complexity inherent in cross cultural oral tradition.

HWB is thrilled to announce a giveaway of a new book by Rachel Jepson Wolf - Herbal Adventures. Backyard Excursions and Kitchen Creations for Kids and Their Families. ​

On Friday we shared an interview with the author of Herbal Adventures - Rachel Jepson Wolf. Today, we are happy to say she is sharing one of the recipes from the book with our readers! The Mullein Steam is perfect for this time of year when the cough and crud season is upon us. 

You still have a chance to win one of two copies of the book. The giveaway closes at midnight CST on Monday,  November 12. 

How to enter to win: 
1) Leave a comment on this blog post. 
2) Leave a comment on the interview blog post. 
3) Leave a comment on one of the facebook posts about the giveaway on our FB page. 
4) Leave a comment on one of the instagram posts about the giveaway. 
5) Visit our FB page from the rafflecopter below (we'd love a like too - so you can stay in the loop of all of our work and interesting events, projects, and news from the world of health justice and herbal health). 
6) Visit the page of the author via the rafflecopter below - LuSa:: Clean. 
7) Look at the rafflecopter list to be sure you did all the entries.
See the terms and conditions at the end of the blogpost for all the details or restrictions.

From the book: "When your nose and sinuses are congested and your cough won’t quit, try a soothing mullein steam. Warm, moist, and comforting, a steam goes to the heart of the issue to clear out the gunk and help you breathe easy again."

To use: 
Place a small, stable cooking pot on a folded towel or hot pad on a sturdy table. (Ensure
that the bowl is level and stable before filling.) Transfer several cups of hot liquid into the bowl. (No need to strain.) Create a tent over your head using a large bath towel, and then carefully lower your face to a safe distance above the steaming bowl of water. Inhale the soothing steam.

​Exercise caution, as you will be leaning over a pot of hot liquid, and burns are possible. 

​Recipe used with permission. © 2018 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. Text © 2018 Rachel Jepson Wolf Photography © 2018 Rachel Jepson Wolf

Be sure to visit the interview with Rachel!

Rachel Jepson Wolf loves nothing more than bringing people and plants together. With a degree in environmental education and biology, Rachel spent years helping kids and adults fall in love with the natural world. In 2002 she founded LüSa Organics, a botanical body care company, and more recently began leading In-person herbal retreats for adults and children. Today Rachel lives with her husband, Pete, and their two children, Lupine and Sage, on a wonderfully weedy homestead in rural Wisconsin. Her days are spent writing, foraging, playing with plants, and homeschooling her kids. Find Rachel atlusaorganics.typepad.com, where she blogs about herbs, farm, and famIly; or explore her herbal body care line at lusaorganics.com.

Follow the instructions below to enter for a chance to win a copy of the book Herbal Adventures. Visit facebook pages for an entry, and comment on this blog post for entries. Only one blog comment per day (CST), for up to a total of 4 entries (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday). Two people will be randomly selected as winners. This giveaway is open to all global residents. Please see terms and conditions for full details, exclusions, conditions, and rules. 
Terms and Conditions>>
​

HWB is thrilled to announce a giveaway of a new book by Rachel Jepson Wolf - Herbal Adventures. Backyard Excursions and Kitchen Creations for Kids and Their Families. 

Rachel graciously gave an interview about her love and journey with herbs, and her path to writing this beautiful book. I am happy to share this on the blog today, and announce that two copies of this book will be given away -  See the instructions on entries at the end of the blog post on how to enter to win a copy!

First, can you tell us a bit about yourself, and how you came to your love of herbs and herbalism?

I fell in love with plants as a child. A rough-and-tumble nature kid, I spent a lot of time outdoors, playing and exploring the woods and fields of my childhood. In college, I pursued a degree in environmental education and biology, choosing a career path that kept my my love of nature at its heart. Plants were my passion, and I dove headlong into their study during college and after graduation as a naturalist.

Despite a career in environmental studies, medicinal uses of plants were lacking from my education. I did not discover herbalism until years later when I became a mother.

My introduction to medicinal herbs came by way of a DIY baby wipes recipe that a friend shared with me that called for calendula oil. I couldn't afford the oil, and did a little research to see if I could make my own. I was delighted to discover that not only could I, the price was fantastic, and the process was easier than I ever imagined.

From that first infusion it was a slippery slope to a house full of remedies. The first book I purchased (an early Rosemary Gladstar publication) opened countless doors for me regarding the medicinal uses of the plants I already knew and loved from my career as a naturalist. My life was never the same! One book led to another; one herb led to another; and 15 years later, here we are.

Do you have a personal favorite plant? If so, which and why?

Oh, such a difficult question! Only one? Though nettle also tops my list, if pressed to choose, Monarda fistulosa would come in near the top. It has been a longtime favorite for me, perhaps because it was an herbs that came to me purely through intuition. Years ago, while struggling through a summer cold, I found myself inexplicably drawn to Monarda. At that time I only knew Monarda was edible - nothing of it being medicinal. I felt so pulled to spend time with Mondrda that one day I pulled my car over on my way home from work, hiked to a stand of Monarda, and chewed a single irresistible leaf. My sore throat was instantly soothed! I was in awe. I hurried home and did a bit more research, and–of course–Monarda is a wonderful ally for colds and sore throats.

I think this is a side of herbalism–that of leading with intuition, then following with research–is one that many of us have put aside in exchange for the well researched body of knowledge that already exists. We place books and teachers before our heart's own wisdom, but I propose there is room for both. Herbalism is a growing, expanding field of knowledge, and with attention to safety and appropriate use, we can all contribute to that wisdom.

We have many members that are educators. Your book focuses on kids and families. Do you have any tips for those herbalists that might not be parents, on working with/teaching kids of all ages about herbs and herbal medicine?

When teaching kids about herbs (both in my writing and during in-person classes) I always begin with the basics: only harvest a plant that you are 100% certain of its identity; never taste-test; always have a knowledgable adult confirm your ID; and always choose safe harvesting places (away from roads, pet waste, and chemical spray).

I also think it's also ideal to begin with plants that check the boxes below:
Locally common
Generally regarded as safe
Simple to use (as a spit poultice, tea, etc.)
No dangerous look-alikes

This will help insure safety while kids build confidence and knowledge about herbs.

I also educate children on harvesting only plants that are abundant in their foraging places to ensure it's continued survival. (I use the "10-to-1 rule", outlined below.)

Children will be the stewards of our ever diminishing and at risk medicinal plants. How does including children in herbalism and plant education at a young age prepare them for that future?

I believe strongly that we grow to protect that which we love. This was the basis of my career in environmental education, it is my foundation as a homeschooling parent today, and at the heart of my work with kids and herbalism. By teaching children about plants, they will grow up with a deeper understanding of our place within (not separate from) the natural world. And when we learn about at risk plants at any age, the desire to protect grows naturally from that awareness.

When I teach foraging to children and adults alike, I employ what I call the "10-to-1 rule": for every ten plants you find, you may harvest one. I think this rule helps us be more aware, present, and mindful of the impact of our harvest, and inspires us to do our part to protect rare plants.

Which recipe in the book is a true favorite in your house? As in, both kids really love it too.

My kids are so different from each other, that they are drawn to different plants, remedies, and recipes. One recipe that we all love, however, is "Popcorn Confetti", a delicious mix of dried nettle, garlic, and dill that we often reach for as a popcorn seasoning. Another sure-winner is Usha's Chai. I have made regularly since I was a teen, and my kids have enjoyed this caffeine-free nettle, raspberry leaf, and rooibos version since they were young. And you really can't go wrong with elderberry gummies!

If you could choose just 5 plants to include in a family/kid friendly herbal first aid kit, what would they be?

It's hard to limit myself to just five! The plants below are always within reach in our family.

Yarrow for cuts and fevers;
Plantain for stings, splinters, and skin irritation;
Elderberry for immunity;
Mullein for lungs and ears;
Calendula for cuts, scrapes, rashes, and digestion

​Rachel Jepson Wolf loves nothing more than bringing people and plants together. With a degree in environmental education and biology, Rachel spent years helping kids and adults fall in love with the natural world. In 2002 she founded LüSa Organics, a botanical body care company, and more recently began leading In-person herbal retreats for adults and children. Today Rachel lives with her husband, Pete, and their two children, Lupine and Sage, on a wonderfully weedy homestead in rural Wisconsin. Her days are spent writing, foraging, playing with plants, and homeschooling her kids. Find Rachel at lusaorganics.typepad.com, where she blogs about herbs, farm, and famIly; or explore her herbal body care line at lusaorganics.com.

Follow the instructions below to enter for a chance to win a copy of the book Herbal Adventures. Visit facebook pages for an entry, and comment on this blog post for entries. Only one blog comment per day (CST), for up to a total of 4 entries (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday). Two people will be randomly selected as winners. This giveaway is open to all global residents. Please see terms and conditions for full details, exclusions, conditions, and rules. 

Terms and Conditions>>