Herbalism is rich in that it encompasses many traditions, modalities, and vibrant cultures globally. Oftentimes, modalities develop that are deeply connected to a place, time, or even a people and become codified into traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. This is the story of African-American herbalism.
What Does African-American Herbalism Mean?
Let’s dial it back to understand the diaspora a bit. Black herbalism encompasses the full breadth of Black people worldwide, including multiple ethnicities and sub-modalities of herbal practice. African-American herbalism is a rich herbal tradition that is based on the knowledge and materia medica of Black people whose ethnicity is African-American, meaning they are likely descended from the African people who were ensnared in chattel slavery in the United States. So when Black herbalists engage with plants, it is often a dual-understanding and experience. We know the plants as we are taught by our teachers, books, and clinical work, but we also have the ancestral knowledge left to us in a myriad of ways to help guide our work. It is not a different set of plants that make up this modality, but the way that they are used.
To understand African-American herbalism, or other modalities of herbalism that are tied to the identity of its practitioners, is to understand and deeply honor the circumstances that these modalities developed under and why.
Why did this modality of herbalism develop? To start, it is because the people were working with nature to bring balance to the body. This was a part of many African cultures, so it was a natural next step for those who were enslaved to find a way to continue this practice. While these ancestors may not have known the plants that existed here on this land, they knew how to foster a relationship with them in order to learn their medicines. This is the genesis of African-American herbalism: a practice deeply influenced by West African healing traditions using the materia medica of North America, built not just out of survival, but out of a symbiotic relationship with nature that was culturally significant.
However, the circumstances that created the need for survival were grave, urgent, and critical to understanding African-American herbalism today.
The state of health in the plantation structure plays a distinct role in the different circumstances that supported the development of this herbal modality. At that time, there were medical doctors, however they had variations in types of training they could receive to qualify them as such. This also meant that the medicine administered to those in need was often just as varied, and with mixed results. For example, any ailment during this time was treated with blue mass pills, which were primarily mercury, sometimes mixed with other substances. Not only was this experimental, but it also often had a placebo effect. The illnesses that plagued enslaved Africans were bacteria-based infections due to living conditions, lack of clean water, and exposure to the elements. Now, add in that treatment for the enslaved was often experimental, cruel, or non-existent, there was a distinct need for African-Americans to continue practicing herbalism, especially to treat illnesses that seemed to only affect our community. This was the survival aspect: it was literal and necessary for us to continue managing our own health, even if we had to do so in secret.
Now orature, or oral tradition, where Black people often share history, records, and information through oral story, song, poetry, etc., was and is directly linked to liberation. What makes African-American herbalism feel a bit ephemeral today is by design. Plants have a unique nomenclature, recipes are often in shorthand if they are written, and many aspects of a monograph are etched into the minds of a 4th-generation herbalist, passed down orally from their grandmothers. At the time of African-American herbalism’s development, it was crucial that this practice remain clandestine as it was outlawed. Why? Because its use gave the enslaved autonomy, which was the antithesis of what slavery was supposed to be. So then orature was not only a cultural aspect of African societies, but also a tool used for record-keeping and intentional strategy for survival. Additionally, medicinal knowledge of plants was often used to fight back against enslavers or was commodified without credit to those enslaved, so secrecy and code were of the utmost importance.
Understanding these key aspects of the circumstances around why African-American herbalism was developed is crucial to engaging with its work, materia medica, and practitioners. However, there is one more piece of the puzzle that makes African-American herbalism distinctly such: the spirit.
The spirituality of African-American herbalism is not required, but is inextricably linked. Even after exposure to new religions or spiritual systems, Africans and African-American people continued to develop their own system of practitioners to provide care and used diagnostic methods that include spiritual elements. Terms like rootdoctor, two-headed doctor, and the like are referencing the practitioners who carried the depth of our traditions into a new place. Indigenous diagnostics are holistic: these ancestors knew and understood that in addressing the imbalance, the spirit and its own set of rules must be engaged in order to return a person to good health. Today, many Black herbalists also incorporate these diagnostic methods and knowledge into their work. It not only includes how we view imbalance or illness, but also how we engage with the plants in our work. Most, not all, of these diagnostic methods and practices are linked directly to full spiritual systems and are not included in public documentation. This particular aspect is deeply rooted in ancestral veneration, a cornerstone of Black culture.
While we could continue to dive deeper, this is a great start in understanding what African-American herbalism is and why it was created. It was and is a rich, cultural tradition that is passed down through ancestral knowledge and familial connections that are a vital part of African-American culture and can vary by family or region. While its use as a tool for survival and liberation today may not be under the same circumstances, its praxis is still rooted in accessibility, adaptability, and community care. Today, many pieces of its processes are available to add to any herbalist’s toolkit through books, classes, and the local Black grandmother steeping a cup of tea and telling stories. As with any cultural element to our work as herbalists, approach with care, appreciation, and a deep desire to listen.
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