The Cultural Theft of Medicine

Manifesting. Cleansing. Healing. 

These all look like buzzwords or hashtags you’ve seen in recent media. And if you were to do a quick Instagram search of #herbalism, you would see that the top performing posts were created by a plethora of white faces. But the root traditions behind these now-trendy affirmations is that manifesting, cleansing and healing were ancient practices that were passed down by African and Indigenous ancestors and elders. These words are and always have been so much more than a money maker for brands, or just another piece of Black culture for non-Black and non-Indigenous people to steal and claim a false sense of knowledge from. These misrepresentations and false reclamations are widespread, creating scarcity of sacred Palo Santo and white sage because they became commercial products, sold at Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. It has meant a cultural fear or disrespect of African religious practices, only for these to be lauded as deeply spiritual when lighter faces adopted these traditions.

So in honor of Black History Month, let’s talk about Black herbalism.

The practices you’ve seen scrolling through your explore page come from ancient African practices, combined with indigenous and Asian influence. Every one of these groups struggled to survive in the midst of slavery and genocide and, once in America, were exposed to each other’s practices. The struggle they faced translated into a need for healing—and the enslaved would experiment with foraged plants to create holistic medicine. But because of the colonizer’s goal of completely wiping away African American history and warping the practices and beliefs they held—Black herbalism stuck around as a reclamation of holding onto sacred practices and connections to the homeland and the ancestors. Its adaptation through generations has come a long way—but the core of herbalism is rooted in enslavement, sacrifice, strength and overcoming. It’s rooted in the journey of the oppressed. 

This year’s theme for Black History Month is centered around Black health and wellness. And as we go into a new year of celebrating Black lives, joy and healing—we want to deeply question cultural “trends” and who is entitled to them. And we want to remind all non-Black and non-indigenous faces who participate in herbalism to acknowledge where those practices began. To acknowledge the sacredness of deeply rooted, calcified scars that need generational mental, physical and spiritual healing. Where do you fit in that journey? Do you even belong in it, at all?

For this Black History Month, we invite you to begin to think about what herbalism wellness and connections mean—and to spark that curiosity, here are four Black creators who are leading the conversation.

We can't wait to share more Black History Month health and wellness stories with you, so stay tuned on social as we keep the dialogue going all month long.