Black Americans have a long history of embracing herbal medicine. With little access to fair and safe health care, our not-so-distant ancestors turned to medicines that grew close to home, a tradition that dates all the way back to Africa. Herbalist and author of “African American Herbalism,” Lucretia Van Dyke, has dedicated her life to honoring that history.
Her first memories of connecting with plants began on her grandfather's farm. Being amongst the elders, shucking peas and husking corn and seeing the fruits of her family's labor during harvest time. She considers these moments a rite of passage. Her childhood connection to the land and the earth's bounty nurtured her journey to become a leading herbal healer.
According to Van Dyk, herbalism and ancestor worship are intricately intertwined: much of the information available to us today is thanks to our ancestors' ability to preserve it through memory and storytelling.
“In the past, the knowledge wasn't written down in books, it was passed down through oral tradition and family knowledge. So it's partly a medical practice, but it's also partly magical. Plants really do have healing powers and have been used in rituals since the time of our earliest ancestors, from Africa to the Caribbean.”
The magic she is referring to is deeply rooted in African immigrant spiritual traditions such as Hoodoo. In addition to their medicinal properties, herbs have also been used as part of spiritual rituals.
“Generally, most plants have spiritual as well as medicinal properties. In Hoodoo, the connection with plants is [that’s] “That's important because our ancestors didn't have the same plants that they had in Africa, so they cultivated a relationship with the plants that they did have. So I think that's one of the most important things that Western medicine has really forgotten.”
Plant remedies are powerful and have become increasingly popular over the past few years. According to the American Botanical Council, sales of herbal supplements in the United States saw a record increase in 2020. This coincided with the start of the pandemic, a time when we had few answers about how to take care of ourselves. In parallel, social media has become a hotspot for information about healing herbs. But it has also led to a lot of misinformation, commonly claiming that certain herbs are a cure-all. Van Dyke emphasizes the importance of not getting fooled by internet herbal remedy fads.
“The plant world is not like that. It's a synergy of things. [it’s important] To find a good book, do your own research and go to the herb shop in your town and ask questions.”
For those who are interested in diving into the world of plant medicine but aren't sure where to start, Van Dyke has some tips.
Start in the kitchen. This is an affordable way to experiment with what you already have in your cupboards and fridge. Get outside. Mother Nature has an amazing ability to give you the plants you need, so what you need is usually growing close by. Keep it simple. Choose one or two herbs you're already familiar with and research their medicinal properties and how to incorporate them into your health regimen. Talk to an expert. Find a knowledgeable herbalist to help you safely incorporate herbs into your life. Try ancestral practices. Our ancestors used plants for medicinal purposes and spiritual healing. You can start with something simple, like creating a plant bath for stress management and relaxation.
VanDyke's book, African American Herbalism, and other resources can be found on the Black Joy Bookshop page.
