HERBAL FREEDOM SCHOOL

HERBAL FREEDOM SCHOOL HERBAL FREEDOM SCHOOL

HERBAL FREEDOM SCHOOL
HERBAL FREEDOM SCHOOL HERBAL FREEDOM
SCHOOL













Freedom Session
Vol.2








For: The People

Why Hello, Hello!

I'm Toi, a community organizer for food, health and economic justice. I'm also an artivist, a
healer and a visionary. My commitment to being an organizer and activist for social justice for
my community and my on-going passion for and ancestral ties to healing work has led me to
pursue a path as an herbalist. As many may know, there aren't many (visible) herbalists of color
in the U.S.- especially in Austin, TX. Medicine today is also not always affordable and is
inaccessible and toxic. I'd like to be part of the alternative to our inefficient American medical
system.

I started the blog Queer Herbalism because I get really bored not having much cultural context
in the carefully crafted "herbal revolution." C'mon- people of color are responsible for a lot of
the botanical knowledge we have today and not many are really saying this. Not many folks
who are writing these popular books on herbalism are committed to trying to know more about
the true (her)story. I'm interested in knowing more about the healing work of our ancestors and
rediscovering, restoring and reclaiming their healing legacy. While it's great to learn about
western herbalism- the very eurocentric view is not really my cup o' tea. *pun intended. I am
interested in the work of curanderas, medicine women and men, sangomas, inyangas, and
other indigenous healers who work with plants and herbs and spiritual/emotional/physical/ and
mental health.

As a queer-identified, gender non-conforming herbalist, I am also interested in the ways that
two-spirited and gender variant healers have been involved in the healing of their communities
throughout generations. It is said that in the past, queer and transgender folks were often
healers in their societies. In past research I've found that two-spirited, gender non-conforming
people have a long past as healers. (Leslie Feinberg's Transgender Warriors is a good
resource.)

Being between genders- neither male or female, or maybe being both, was thought to be a gift
in the past, and still is considered sacred in some societies today.
In many "shamanic" traditions, there was the idea that combining the characteristics of both
sexes and both genders could connect one to a transcendent spiritual realm. Two-spirited folks
were messengers of the Creator, visionaries, dream interpreters, keepers and teachers of
spiritual principles, and medicine people. They were called on to do burials, bless unions and
births and perform other ceremonies. Because they embodied both Mother Earth and Father
Sky and held both a masculine and feminine heart within their souls (two spirits), they were
perceived as having twice the power.

They were thought to be more able to be fair and to be able to see into the hearts of males
and females. Since they inhabited both masculine and feminine in one body they were thought
to be able to see with both the eyes of men and women. This made them mediators and
bridges. They were also seen as mediators between two worlds- that of Spirit and the human
world, as well as between partners, tribe, and nations. In older world religions, the gods and
goddesses in-between genders were viewed as whole-gendered and therefore balanced.

As I do this work I am honoring both my ancestors and my predecessors. I will document my
journey here as I research and practice the oldways and come into my path as a healer.

Here is the vision I am co-creating:

I'm using the knowledge I gain from my community herbalist program to provide much needed
healing to communities far under-served by "modern medicine" because of race, gender,
sexuality, ability and lack of funds/economic status. I will build with other holistic healers-
herbalists, acupuncturists, massage therapists, yoga and movement instructors, and other
spiritual healers to assist in the healing of communities of color, the queer community, and
low-income communities on all levels- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I will not only
assist in healing, but also pass on knowledge through skillshares and freedom schooling so that
this wisdom is reclaimed and made accessible to the People. My emphasis once again is on
affordable, holistic care for low- income folks, especially those who are of color and also those
who are queer/LGBT.

I am asking for love offerings to complete my community herbalist program in order to do
much-needed healing work in our community. Please go to
http://www.gofundme.com/communityherbalist for more information.

I'm looking forward to traveling with you on this journey. Stop by from time to time. I will post
more of my story soon.

Love, Healing, and Solidarity,

Toi

























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The Inaccessibility of Modern Western Herbalism

This is just a quick note after stumbling upon the mention of a new "free herbalism"
lecture that will be available in the fall in the midwest. It got me thinking about how
the herbalism created by many ancestors of color was free and how far we've moved
from that. Healing is something you've got to pay for now. So many people are
clamoring to go to traditional chinese medicine, ayurveda, and herbalism programs
so they can charge money. So many mainstream healers have gone to other
countries to gather ancient knowledge only to come market it back to the
descendants of the creators of that knowledge at a premium price. I know that
people have to sustain themselves...but seriously? How are these (often new age)
healers any different than western medicine practitioners?

Capitalism traps us all.

It does not truly allow for the "altruism"...no...compassion necessary for true and
effective healing. If we are so worried about paying bills and making ends meet that
we turn down a person who is suffering from illness...can we call ourselves true
healers? We know how this exchange has gone awry and we see it daily in our
broken (no decimated!) health care system. And we especially see how it affects low
income folks of color who can no longer afford wellness and don't always have access
to prevention (especially if living in toxic towns, food deserts, and/or living high
stress, low quality of life situations working 2 and 3 jobs).

When I see the marketing of ancient healing knowledge and the inflated sale of this
knowledge, I am *more than disappointed. I am especially disappointed in the way
that some people market themselves as radical but are the first to try to charge a
sick person living in poverty based on "principle" (the principle that everyone should
pay).

I am disappointed that there aren't more holistic healing programs allowing for
scholarships for low income people of color to learn what has been lost to us so that
we can, in turn, take it back to our community to heal. It costs thousands of dollars
for these programs- and by all means, if people have it they should pay it. I think we
all know what demographic can usually make that type of "monetary sacrifice,"
though. We see this clearly in the number of white holistic healers to holistic healers
of color. It becomes more and more apparent that some of these folks would rather
keep this knowledge and sell it to low income communities and not necessarily pass
it on or have it propagated.

Hmm...Healers as gatekeepers...

I feel that after the hippies began to appropriate other cultures and their healing
modalities in the 60s that much of this knowledge became inaccessible (and
inaffordable) as decades passed. Of course, there were also people who came to the
US to market these healing modalities, as well. (And many times at a premium price-
why not get these affluent westerners to come out of pocket?)

But herbalism...something so rooted in indigenous culture. How is it now more and
more expensive to attain this knowledge? How is it becoming less and less accessible
to folks of color who need it the most? Not to mention communities like the queer
community who also don't have access to western medicine and would benefit from
traditional forms of healing--it's just too expensive many times. I appreciate sliding
scale, but when are we going to address the fact that we need more people from
marginalized communities healing in those same communities. Which means- we
need those who have been marginalized to be able to get this
information/education.

That is all-
for now.
































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Medicinal Herbs by David Hoffmann [excerpts
from The Herbalist CD-ROM ] Continued Part 2



Astringents are herbs which precipitate protein. This has the effect of stopping
bleeding on the skin, reducing mucus membrane secretions in sinusitis or diarrhea, and
generally tightening and binding tissue that these herbs can touch.

Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatorium, is an astringent that is also a bitter tonic, a
diuretics, a vulnerary, and anti-spasmodic, a diaphoretic, and a range of other
actions as well, showing that this very traditional tonic from Western Europe,
can cover many conditions and be very useful in therapy. It has the unique
property of combining effective astringency with marked bitter stimulation.
This is especially useful in conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome where
there is a tendency to diarrhea which the astringency will treat while also the
need to tone up and stimulate the secretions of the various glands.
Cranesbill, Geranium maculatum, is a very safe astringent used in any
condition where astringency is appropriate. It is particularly useful in treating
diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoids, and also situations in the female reproductive
system where there is excessive bleeding.


Bitters

Gentian
Herbs with a bitter taste have a special role in preventive medicine. The taste
triggers a sensory response in the central nervous system releasing digestive
hormones that in turn lead to a range of effects, including stimulation of
appetite, general simulation of the flow of digestive juices, increased bile flow,
and aid in the liver's detoxification work, and stimulation of the gut's self-repair
mechanisms.
Gentian, Gentiana [lutia], is a bitter hepatic, anti-microbial, emmenagogue.
Gentian makes an excellent bitter that stimulates the appetite and does all the
other things that bitters in general do. In addition to its bitter taste which
Westerners may not automatically like, it does have a pleasant Gentian aroma to
it.
Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, is another bitter tonic that is a stimulant, a
nervine tonic, and an emmenagogue, and can be used quite safely wherever a
digestive stimulant is called for. As a digestive bitter, it also has an
emmenagogue effect, the bitter stimulation, stimulating, encouraging the
menstrual flow at the normal time in the normal way.
Horehound, known in Britain as White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare, is a
very useful plant in that it has all the properties of digestive bitter, as well as
being an effective expectorant valuable in the treatment of bronchitic coughs.
This combination of bitterness and expectorant stimulation makes Horehound
ideal in helping people recuperate from lung conditions such as bronchitis.




Calmative

Rosemary
Calmative plants are those rich in aromatic volatile oils that stimulate the
digestive system facilitating its proper and correct working. Through these oils,
they soothe the wall of the intestines reducing any inflammation present, easing
griping pains, and helping to remove gas from the digestive tract.
Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, is a calmative, aromatic, anti-spasmodic, anti-
inflammatory, galactagogue mild hepatic.
Rosemary, Rosemarinus officinalis, is a calmative, anti-spasmodic, anti-
depressive, rubefacient, anti-microbial, emmenagogue. In addition to its
calmative and digestive properties, Rosemary can have a stimulating effect on
the circulation.





[]




Herbal Properties and Actions
By Jim McDonald

I dont think I could possibly overstate how important it is to
understand the properties by which herbs work. This knowledge is
what separates a mediocre herbalist (someone who memorizes the
name of a problem and the name of the herb that is listed next to it
and says use this for that) from a good herbalist (someone who
says, Ah! dry, enflamed tissues! which mucilaginous herb should
I use for this?). Understanding these properties opens up new
worlds of possibility to the herbal student. It allows one to more
deeply understand the herbs theyre using, and see patterns in both
plants and people more clearly. It also clears up that head
scratching that occurs when youre reading herbal books and have
no idea what theyre referring to when they say anticatarrhal.

While you could go through this list and try to memorize terms and
definitions, the best way to gain an understanding of this material is
to do soexperientially. You can read what an astringent is, or you
can chew on a green banana peel or wild geranium root and know
from experience. Or you can understand that a mucilage is a viscid,
slippery carbohydrate, but making a strong infusion of Marshmallow
or Slippery Elm and playing around with the resulting goo will allow
you to not only understand with your head, but with your body as
well. And who would want to pass up the opportunity to compare
and contrast the varying degrees of bitter?

So! learn this stuff. Years later, youll either be glad you did, or
wish you had.

Primal Energetics
I should state that while I've presented these initial energetic
considerations as polarities (hot/cold, dry/damp, tense/lax), there
are so many exceptions and distinctions to be made when practically
applying these concepts that visualizing these qualities on opposing
ends of a spectrum is going to cause confusion and frustration and
teeth gnashing. As an example, we could say that demulcent herbs
are moistening and astringent herbs are drying, but while moistening
and drying is a polarity, astringents and demulcents are not...
astringents are really the opposite of relaxants, not demulcents.

If you don't get that, please read on, and hopefully I can clear up and
elucidate herbal energetics into the rather commonsense recognition
of patterns that it is...

hot ~ cold
It is clear that some herbs are warming and some are cooling. Give
anyone some cayenne pepper and, given the two options, they're
sure to pick correctly. Same goes for iceberg lettuce, or
cucumbers... they're just clearly cooling, and you're likely to find wide
agreement on this fact. But, as you move in from the extremes to
the middle ground, you'll start to see differences of opinion, even
among the wisest of plant people. To me, that just makes sense, in
the same way that everyone will agree that Palm Springs, California
in July is hot and Lake Superior in late March is really very cold. But
put them in a "room temperature" hotel and any group of two or
more will often disagree as to whether its a bit warm or a bit
chill. When learning to apply the ideas of "heating" and "cooling" to
herbs, start with the obvious extremes and work you way in.

Still, there are some general observations about these two
categories that can be clarifying and offer insight:

Heating herbs generally speed up processes, increase peripheral
circulation, are generally stimulating in nature...........

Cooling herbs slow down processes, soothe either irritations or
excess.................

damp ~ dry
Imbalances in the body are often characteristically dry or
damp. This applies throughout the body, but nowhere, perhaps, is it
as readily discernable as in the respiratory tract, since when
someone coughs, you can often clearly hear which end of the
spectrum is manifest. Likewise, the herbs we use tend to possess
either a drying or moistening action.

As it turns out, most herbs are drying, though they can vary greatly
not only in degree, but in nature of the "dryness" they impart. Drying
herbs tend to cause dryness via one of two processes:

1.) They result in the release of fluids from the body, like diuretics
(fluid lost through pee), diaphoretics (fluid lost through sweat), bitters
(fluid lost through bile), galactagogues (fluid lost through breastmilk),
emmenogogues (fluid lost through blood), sialogogues (fluid lost
through drool), expectorants/decongestants (fluid lost through
mucous), emetics (fluid lost through vomit), aphrodisiacs (fluid lost
through... you probably get the picture).

But, of course, we need to thicken the plot a bit...

The same drying herbs that release fluids from the body in some
ways moisten tissues as the fluids are released. For example, the
skin will go from dry to moist with the use of an appropriate
diaphoretic. This, though, is a local and transient phenomenon, one
to be utilized for a limited duration of time; if it makes you secrete a
fluid or stimulates some type of evacuation, its still constitutionally
drying, because there is less fluid in the body as a result of its
action. But sometimes just establishing - or reestablishing - the flow
of fluids through a given tissue will restore proper function, and with
that, moisture.

Another consideration is that the "dampness" in the body calling for
the use of this class of "drying" herbs can often be seen as a
"stagnation" of some sort. By stimulating the flow of fluids
associated with a given organ, system or tissue, we help to break up
that stagnation and resolve the problems that go along with it; as a
general rule of thumb, anywhere you have stagnation in the body,
you have an imbalance that needs to be addressed.

2.) Astringents are considered drying. This is both a
correct and misleading way to understand what they do. Astringent
herbs don't really cause the loss of fluids from the body... in fact,
they often are used to help retain fluid from being lost (for example,
blackberry root being used to stop diarrhea, shepherd's purse to
staunch uterine bleeding, or staghorn sumach to help resolve
excessive urination). But a simple taste of an astringent leaves the
mouth (i.e. the mucous membranes) dry (think about the dryness
you get from sipping green tea, or from taking a bite of a too green
banana). What astringents do is restore tone to tissues by causing
them to constrict. It is this constriction - generally of the outer surface
of the tissues - causes dryness. In western herbalism, these herbs
were sometimes referred to as "tonics": herbs that restored tone to
tissues. In most cases, short term use of astringents causes
a localized dryness, while helping to preserve fluids constitutionally.
Prolonged use, however, or the use of very strong astringents can
constrict tissues too much (and not just on the surface), and in doing
so impairs their proper function by both robbing them of fluids and
impairing their ability to absorb or secrete fluids.

So we might say that "drying herbs" that cause loss of fluids from the
body a constitutionally drying while sometimes moistening locally,
and astringents are locally drying while they initially help to retain
fluids on a constitutional level... this distinction is exceptionally
important, as lumping together these differing qualities under the
simplified assessment "drying" can lead to inappropriate use or
inappropriate avoidance.

That insight is worth re-reading until you get it.

[]











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Flower Healing Past and Present
May 15th, 2008 by atava in Ancestral Healing, Flower
essences, Healing, Herbs, Spirtual



This is a good time of year to learn about the healing power of flowers. Flowers have been
and continue to be a significant medicine for all traditional peoples. Flowers are used for
spiritual cleansing, for blessings, for celebration, and for mourning. Flowers are an important
part of ceremonies all throughout the cycle of life, from birth to death.
In modern times, flowers have been incorporated into a system of healing called flower
essence therapy. Flower essences are a subtle, yet profound system of healing. As a form of
vibrational healing, flower essences do not work directly on the physical body or issues of
physical disharmony. Instead, they work on our energetic or etheric bodies. As the flower
essences help shift our energy fields, they reach the emotional and spiritual roots of physical
illness. In this way, flower essences can be a catalyst for deep healing within our mind, body
and spirit.

Flower Healing Part 2
May 15th, 2008 by atava in Ancestral Healing, Flower
essences, Healers, Herbs, Spirtual
In March I made a journey to the Anza Borrego Desert, outside of San Diego. The desert
wildflowers were in full bloom. I was joyful to be around the plants of my desert dwelling
ancestors. Here is one of the important flowering plants that I encountered:

Chaparral is one of the oldest living plants on Mother Earth. Some chaparral plants living in
the California desert are over 9,000 years old. Chaparral, which is also called Greasewood,
was considered a panacea for the native people that lived around it. As an herb, chaparral is
powerfully cleansing to the body and it has been used for many illnesses, including cancer.
As a flower essence, chaparral is a powerful emotional cleanser.
It helps us to release old, toxic emotions that we have stored deep in our body. Once, when I
was sitting in meditation with a chaparral plant, she showed me how my emotions vibrated
in the cells of my body. Later, when I took the flower essence, I went through a healing phase
where for many days I released old feelings of sadness and anger. Chaparral also helps to
connect us to our own ancestors. In this way, it helps to root ourselves into our own
genealogy. Connection to ancestors has always been an integral part of indigenous cultures.
Many modern people suffer from disconnection to their ancestors. This creates many other
issues, including loneliness and a sense of not belonging. If you wish to connect to your
ancestors, begin by making a prayer and offering to let them know your request. Then take
the flower essence of chaparral, or take a small piece of the plant and put in on your altar or
carry it on your body.




Making Flower Essences
August 10th, 2009 by atava in Flower essences, Herbs, Medicine Making
Flower essences are powerful remedies for our mind, body and spirit. They are also very easy
to make. The most common way of making flower essences is called the Sun Method.

Flower Essence Making, The Sun Method
1. The first and most important step in flower essence making is to find the perfect, vital,
blooming flowers. Ideally you are in a place in nature or in your back yard away from cars,
people, or other energetic distractions.
2. Use a clear, clean glass bowl or goblet. I have a few bowls that I only use for flower essence
making.
3. To energetically clean you goblet, rinse it with cold water or smudge it with sage.
4. Fill the bowl with the purest water available.
5. Find the flowers you are going to harvest for the essence.
Make an offering and ask permission to pick them. An offering can be a song, a prayer, some
tobacco, some candy (flower fairies love candy!), or whatever feels connected to your heart.
6. Pick several blossoms without touching them and drop them into the bowl of water. I like
to use two small stones or sticks to grab and cut the flower blossom. (It helps to have two
people for this step; one to pick and one to hold the bowl.)

Desert Lily Flower Essence

7. Some say to completely cover the surface of the water with the flowers. I say this depends
on the flower. Be mindful if the plant is rare, endangered, if it only has a few blossoms, or
there are only a few plants in the stand. Sometimes all you need is one blossom. Sometimes it
is better to not pick at all, but to simply lean the flower down into the water while still
keeping it on the plant.
8. Keep the flower water in as close to full sun as possible for at least three hours.
9. After three hours, check the flowers to see if they look wilted and cooked. This means
that their vital essence has been transferred into the water and it is ready to be finished.
10. Strain out the flowers (and any insects that may have jumped into the water) and pour
the water into an amber glass jar covering with an equal amount of brandy. This flower water
and brandy mixture is called the mother essence.
11. Label your flower essence immediately. Include the name of the flower, location of harvest
and date. I also like to include relevant astrological information, like Sun in Leo or
Summer Solstice. Also note the potency of the essence: a mother essence, stock or dosage
bottle.
12. Variations: You can make flower essences by the light of the full















!"!#$%& !"( )*&+,$-$.&
The Digestive System









































AYURVEDA



The roots of ayurveda



Ayurveda,the oldest system of medicine in the world, traces its
roots to the Vedic period in ancient India. The Vedas contain
practical and scientific information on various subjects
beneficial to the humanity like health, philosophy, engineering,
astrology etc.
Vedic Brahmans were not only priests performing religious
rites and ceremonies, they also became the Vaidyas (Ayurvedic
Physicians). The Sage- Physician- Surgeons of that time were
the same sages or seers, deeply devoted holy people , who
saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said, that
they received their training of Ayurveda through direct
cognition during meditation. In other words, the knowledge of
the use of various methods of healing, prevention, longevity
and surgery came through Divine revelation . These
revelations were transcribed from the oral tradition into book
form, interspersed with the other aspects of life.





Consequently Ayurveda grew into a respected and widely used system of healing in India.
Around CA.1500 Before.Common era. Ayurveda was delineated into eight specific
branches of medicine and there were two main schools - Atreya, the school of physicians,
and Dhanvantari , the school of surgeons.
These two schools made Ayurveda a more scientifically verifiable and classifiable medical
system.
People from numerous countries came to Indian Ayurvedic schools to learn this medical
science.
They came from China, Tibet, Greece, Rome, Egypt ,Afghanistan, Persia etc. to learn the
complete wisdom and bring it back to their own countries. Ayurvedic texts were translated
in Arabic and physicians such as Avicenna and Razi Sempion, who both quoted Ayurvedic
texts , established Islamic Medicine.
This medicine became popular in Europe and helped to form the foundation of the
European tradition in medicine.
In the 16
th
Century Europe , Paracelsus , who is known as the father of modern Western
medicine, practiced and propagated a system of medicine which borrowed heavily
from Ayurveda..



[...]




Principles of Ayurveda




Ayurveda is a holistic healing science which comprises of two words, Ayu and Veda. Ayu
means life and Vedameans knowledge or science. So the literal meaning of the
word Ayurveda is the science of life. Ayurveda is a science dealing not only with
treatment of some diseases but is a complete way of life.
Ayurveda aims at making a happy, healthy and peaceful society. The two most important

aims of Ayurveda are:
+ To maintain the health of healthy people
+ To cure the diseases of sick people
A Person is seen in Ayurveda as a unique individual made up of five primary elements.
These elements are ether (space), air, fire,water and earth.
Just as in nature, we too have these five elements in us. When any of these elements are
imbalanced in the environment , they will in turn have an influence on us. The foods we
eat and the weather are just two examples of the influence of these elements . While we
are a composite of these five primary elements, certain elements are seen to have an
ability to combine to create various physiological functions.
The elements combine with Ether and Air in dominence to form what is known
in Ayurveda as Vata Dosha. Vatagoverns the principle of movement and therefore can be
seen as the force which directs nerve impulses, circulation, respiration and elemination
etc.,
The elements with Fire and Water in dominence combine to form the Pitta Dosha .
The Pitta Dosha is responsible for the process of transformation or metabolism. The
transformation of foods into nutrients that our bodies can assimilate is an example of a
Pitta function. Pitta is also responsible for metabolism in the organ and tissue systems
as well as cellular metabolism.
Finally, it is predominantly the water and earth elements which combine to form
the Kapha Dosha. Kapha is responsible for growth, adding structure unit by unit. It also
offers protection , for example, in form of the cerebral-spinal fluid,which protects the
brain and spinal column. The mucousal lining of the stomach is another example of the
function of Kapha Dosha protecting the tissues.

We are all made up of unique proportions
of Vata,Pitta and Kapha. These ratios of the
Doshas vary in each individual and because
of this Ayurveda sees each person as a
special mixture that accounts for our
diversity.
Ayurveda gives us a model to look at each
individual as a unique makeup of the three
doshas and to thereby design treatment
protocols that specifically address a persons
health challenges. When any of the doshas
become accumulated, Ayurveda will suggest
specific lifestyle and nutritional guidelines to
assist the individual in reducing the dosha
that has become excessive. Also herbal
medicines will be suggested , to cure the
imbalance and the disease.
Understanding this main principle
of Ayurveda , it offers us an explanation as to
why one person responds differently to a
treatment or diet than another and why
persons with the same disease might yet
require different treatments and medications.





[!]



!"#$%!#&
PAN-AFRICAN INDIGENOUS HERBAL MEDICINE
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Nakato E. Joel-Lewis, Kiwanuka R.G. Lewis
African Traditional Herbal Research CentreRGL Enterprises Intl / Blackherbals at the
Source of the Nile UG LtdP.O. Box 29974, KampalaUganda, East Africa

African Traditional Plant Knowledge
There is little attention to African botanical transfers and the role of New World
Africans in establishing the continents native plants elsewhere. The emergence
of three centers of plant domestication in sub-Sahara Africa (two in West
Africa) added more than 115 endemic species to the global food supplied while
laying the foundation from an ongoing process of experimentation and crop
exchanges with other Old World societies. Enslaved Africans and free maroons
continued this process in the Caribbean.

It is often forgotten that the vanishing Amerindian population of the Caribbean
was replaced with forced African migrants who originated in tropical societies.
Research attention has yet to elucidate how New World Africans drew upon
their knowledge of tropical botanical resources for food, healing, cultural
identity and survival.

West Africa and the New World, although separated by several thousand miles
of ocean, shared some plant species before colonization. Slaves landing on
Caribbean shores would have recognized many of the plants they encountered.
Newly arrived shamans continued to employ the species as they had done in
Africa. The foundation in tropical botanical knowledge provided Africans the
critical knowledge for shaping Afro-Caribbean plant resources.
With the exception of the coffee plant and the oil palm, Europeans were not
much interested in plants of African origin. While these two valued tree species
would become plantation crops in the Caribbean, most plants indigenous to
Africa depended upon New World Africans for their establishment, as whites
did not consume them.

Several factors, including soil exhaustion and deforestation, altered the balance
of the ecology of the West Indies. By the 18th century, nearly all of the
domesticated animals and cultivated plants in the Caribbean were ones that
Europeans had introduced.
Europeans also introduced new food plants to the region. Of these, bananas and
plantain from the Canary Islands were a valuable addition to the food supply;
and sugar and rice formed the basis of plantation agriculture, along with native
tobacco. New World foods also found their way to Africa. The white potato,
cassava and maize moved across the Atlantic to Africa.
African domesticates, important in Caribbean cuisines, include the akee apple
(Blighia sapida), wild spinach or pigweed (Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus
spp.) that give calalu its distinctive flavor, along with bitter leaf (Vernonia spp.)
and Brassica spp., the greens favored in Diaspora dishes. Other African
introductions include the baobab (Adansonia digitata) and the kola nut (Cola
acuminate, C. nitida) a non-alcoholic stimulant with medicinal properties.

Most West African cultivars traditionally served both food and medicinal
purposes. Grains, fruits and tubers sustained the body while leaves, barks and
roots from the same plants, healed it. Because so many cultivars also served as
medicinals, introduction of Old World food plants to feed the growing slave
populations supplied Africans with a familiar assortment of medicinals.
Common species like lemon, originally used in Africa only for it curative
properties, was being cultivated and used medically in Brazil by 1549.

By the early 1700s, African cola nut served as food and medicine for Jamaican
slaves. The Africans use of okra, both as a staple and to induce abortion had
been observed in the mid 18th century in Guyana.


Other early introductions of medicinal food crops included winged yam, pigeon
pea, sorghum, oil palm, watermelon, akee and black-eyed peas.
Carried aboard slave ships, African plants contributed to survival, health and
economy in the Caribbean. The journey across the Middle Passage introduced
African grasses possibly for bedding and as fodder for cattle. Guinea grass was
reported in Barbados in 1684 and introduced to Jamaica in 1745. Many crops,
given to the enslaved aboard the slave ships, also provided the means for New
World Africans to establish these plants in subsistence plantation fields and
their dooryard gardens. These include African rice (Oryza glaberrima), yams
(Dioscorea cayensis, D. rotundata), cow [black-eye] peas (Vigna unguiculata),
pigeon (Congo) peas (Cajanu cajan), melegueta peppers (Aframomum
melegueta), palm oil (Elaeis guineensis), sorrel/roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa),
okra (Abelmosclus esculentu), sorghum (Sorghun bicolor), millet (Pennisetum
glaucum, Eleusine coracana), the Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean)
and mangoes (Mangifera Indica).

One African plant, the Castor bean (Ricinus communis) was used for lamp oil,
medicine and even as a hair tonic. Prominent African medicinal plants
introduced during the transatlantic slavery include (Momordica charantia)
cerasse, (Kalanchoe integra), leaf of life, (Phyllanthus amarus) carry-me-seed,
(Leonotis nepetifolia) leonotis, (Cola acuminate) kola nut and Corchorus spp)
broomweed.

The curative value of Kalanchoe is reflected in its common names long-life
and never-die, while maiden apple or the African cucumber (Momordica
charantia) ranks as the single most important medicinal of African origin in the
Black Atlantic. It is used as an abortifacient, to treat snakebite, pain, high blood
pressure and as an anti-inflammatory for rheumatism and arthritis. Another Old
World plant esteemed for healing among population of the African Diaspora is
Abrus precatorius, a venerable south Asian ayurvedic medicine that had already
diffused to the African subcontinent from India long before the onset of the
transatlantic slave trade. Used as a febrifuge and expectorant by Caribbean
diasporic populations, Abrus precatorius remains an esteemed herbal remedy
throughout the Black Atlantic.

Other plants of African origin established in the Caribbean material medica are
wrongly attributed to an Asian origin, thereby obscuring the African floristic
contribution to regional folk pharmacopoeias. Tropical Old World plants
formed part of an ancient history of exchanges between Africa and Asia
(notably, with India and China). Tamarind (Tamarindus indica), castor bean
(Ricinus communis), and okra (Abelmoshus esculentus) provide examples of
crops that originated in Africa and diffused to Asia between one and three
thousand years ago. Other African domesticated plants, such as sorghum
(Sorghum bicolor) and millets (Pennisetum glaucum, Eleusine coracana)
became the subjects of intense plant breeding in India thousands of years before
returning again to Africa as new varieties.

Still other plants of Old World origin were long established in Africa prior to
their dissemination across the Atlantic by slave ships. These include mustard
green and kale, introduced from the Mediterranean, and sesame (sim-sim),
originally of Asian origin but so long used in Africa that it bears the name
benne which became the plants name in the U.S. South.

Plant exchanges between India and Africa by maritime and overland routes had
been underway for millennia before Europeans began enslaving Africans in the
fifthteen century. Taro (Coloasia esculenta), lime (Citrus aurantifolia), the luffa
sponge (Luffa spp.), an edible green (Celosia argentea) and banana and
plantain (Musa spp.) offer examples of Asian crops that diffused to Africa in
prehistory. The significance of many Asian medicinals in Afro-Caribbean folk
medicine began with their previously established value to Africans long before
the wave of Asian and Chinese immigration to the Caribbean that dates to the
19th century.

Even the medicinal use of some Native American species, after being
naturalized in Africa, diffused to the New World with the slave traffic.
American tobacco had arrived and was probably being used medicinally in
Africa by the 1600s. During the late years of the slave trade, Africans arriving
in Venezuela introduced healing rituals with tobacco that were uniquely
African. Similarly, the South American peanut was carried by the Portuguese to
Africa and incorporated into the African ethnomedical systems; it made its way
to the Caribbean as a food and a medicine for captive laborers.

One hundred and eighty-six plant families and almost 700 genera are common
to Africa and South America. A mid-20th century survey of the West Indies
reported that 20% of the species were aliens, that the majority was from Old
World, and that most had arrived during early colonization.

Transplanted African laborers recognized and used not only a large number of
their native food plants but also a variety of medicinal weeds. Exotic plants that
have retained parallel African and African-American medicinal value include
hollow stalk, a febrifuge, bitter melon as a febrifuge and purgative, cow-itch
vine as a vermifuge, chamber bitters as a diuretic, castor bean as a purgative
and African spider flower as a cure for earache.

African plants entered the Americas repeatedly over the 350 year period of the
Atlantic slave trade in which millions of Africans were delivered into bondage.
Arriving aboard slave ships as food and medicines, the plants were grown by
New World Africans on plantation provision fields, dooryard gardens, and
subsistence plots. In this manner, more than fifty species native to Africa
became a part of the Caribbean botanical resources. An additional fourteen
species of Asian origin but grown in Africa since antiquity were also
established.

There is as yet no systematic overview of the medicinal species of African
origin that are widely used in Caribbean pharmacopoeias. However, the dozens
of compendia of herbal medicines now published for the Caribbean and tropical
West Africa offer a point of departure for the study of African plant cures,
traditionally valued by Black Atlantic populations.

[]
!"# !"#$%"& ($)*+!,

The Young Lords: A reader: Health and hospitals
Ten Point Health Program
(From the newspaper Young Lords Organization, January 1970, volume 1, number 5)

1. We want total self-determination of all health service at East Harlem, (El Barrio) through
an incorporated community-staff governing board for Metropolitan Hospital. (Staff is
anyone and everyone working in Metropolitan, except administrators.)
2. We want immediate replacement of all Lindsay and Terenzio administrators by
community and staff-appointed people whose practice has demonstrated their
commitment to serve our poor community.
3. We demand an immediate end to construction of the new emergency room until the
Metropolitan Hospital Community-Staff Governing Board inspects and approves them or
authorizes new plans.
4. We want employment for our people. All jobs filled in El Barrio must be filled by residents
first, using on-the-job training and other educational opportunities as bases for service
and promotions.
5. We want free publicly supported health care for treatment and prevention
6. We want an end to all fees.
7. We want total decentralization of health block health officers responsible to the
Community-Staff Board should be instituted.
8. We want door-to-door preventative health services emphasizing environmental and
sanitation control, nutrition, drug addiction, maternal and child care and senior citizen
services.
9. We want total control by the Metropolitan Hospital Community-Staff Governing Board of
budget allocations, medical policy, along the above points, hiring and firing and salaries
of employees, construction and health code enforcement.
10. Any community, union, or workers organization must support all the points of this
program and work and fight for them or be shown as what they are-enemies of the poor
people of East Harlem

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
QUE VIVA EL BARRIO! FREE PUERTO RICO NOW!
New York State Chapter
Young Lords Organization





Socialist Medicine
(From the newspaper Palante, 5 June 1970, volume 2, number 4)
Every Saturday, the YOUNG LORDS PARTY goes door to door in El Barrio and the South Bronx,
testing for tuberculosis. Even though t.b. has been eliminated among the rich, the middle classes,
and white people in general, it is alive and spreading in the Puerto Rican and Black colonies of
amerikkka, the richest country in the world.

Tuberculosis is known as a disease of oppression, just like lead poisoning, anemia, malnutrition,
etc. It comes from being so oppressed by the man that we cannot get jobs that pay enough,
houses that shelter us right, or hospitals to care for us; it comes from not being able as a nation,
as Borinquenos, to control all these things; it comes from being poor, oppressed, and powerless.
During the last 3 months, in El Barrio, and the last month in the South Bronx, we have given over
800 tests for tuberculosis. One out of every three people tested has had a positive reaction. Why
arent the hospitals doing anything to prevent t.b. in our communities? Because the hospitals do
not serve the needs of our people. They exist only to make a profit. Hospitals are only interested
in hospitalization (which costs in the hundreds per day), lab tests and medicines. All of which they
can charge a lot for. But, as the YOUNG LORDS PARTY has shown, all that is necessary for t.b.
testing is a few hours work and dedication.

We live in a country that makes proper health care a luxury only rich people can afford. Heart
transplants and brain surgery are done on rich people; the preventive medicine is not done on
Puerto Ricans and Blacks because this capitalistic system wants to make the rulers live longer
and let the spics and niggers die off as quickly and quietly as possible.

The racism of the health empire must be exposed. It is in every area of medical service. Puerto
Ricans have had drug problems for many years, but it wasnt until a few white kids in the
suburbs started getting strung out, that the health empire discovered drugs, and a big stink was
made in the press. This is like Columbus discovering Puerto Rico. The 70,000 Taino Indians
had always been there, but just like the drug problem, until the man feels it directly, in his pocket
or in his home, it doesnt exist and he doesnt give a damn.

Point 5 of the YOUNG LORDS PARTY 13-Point Program and Platform states We want
community control of our institutions and land and Point 13 says We want a socialist society. In
a socialist society, the institutions like the hospitals are controlled by the hospital workers and the
patients. Also under socialism they extend their services out to the people visiting them in their
homes and setting up Free Health Clinics in every block. This type of service which keeps people
from getting sick in the first place is called preventive medicine. Although doctors admit it is
needed, preventive medicine will never be done in amerikkka, as it is today because it is a
capitalist society. Capitalists run hospitals and make money out of Puerto Ricans being sick and if
theres no money, theyre out of business. Socialists are concerned with keeping people healthy,
not with making money.

As long as we dont control institutions like the hospitals we will continue to die of disease like t.b.
and receive poor or no health services in general. We must begin to fight together as a people to
take over all the institutions that control our lives, by taking the central power that protects the
capitalist hospitals, the state Pig administrators who run hospitals and profit from other peoples
suffering must be put up against the wall. As long as pigs like these are in our communities, they
will continue to use (exploit) us.

The YOUNG LORDS PARTY will continue to serve our people through our Preventive Medicine
Programs, and we will at the same time continue to expose the way in which the institutions in our
communities exploit us. The YLP will fight until hospitals, police, schools, etc are run by the
people, especially those who work in and are affected by these institutions.


FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL!
LIBERATE PUERTO RICO NOW!
Carl Pastor
Ministry of Health
YOUNG LORDS PARTY






























!"#$ & '()*+),-


This is just 30 of 85 pages of the Herbal Freedom School
Freedom Session - volume 2. As you see from the Table of
Contents it contains all kinds of information ranging from
medicine-making, terminology, social commentary, and pieces
on medical history and radical healthcare. Theres also a
resource section.

Get the full version at Etsy.
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Healing and Solidarity,
AGQ