I'm a firm believer that those who live
at the intersections have a deeper and better understanding of the
wants/needs of a larger number of folks. As a queer person of color
interested in traditional healing, I know that I'm walking this path
with few others that look like me. I've seen the classrooms and
websites. I know that POC aren't clamoring to get into a “profession”
where there aren't any certifications and there aren't any guarantees
that you'll even break even, let alone be balling out of control.
I get it.
But, this is my path.
I was always coming up with remedies as
a kid. Giving advice to family members. The little doctor that could.
I went on to school to do pre-med and I became the little doctor that
couldn't...or wouldn't. I just didn't understand why it had to be so
grueling and was not willing to put myself through 6 more years of
anxiety. When I went on to study health advocacy and was diagnosed
with lupus...I began to understand why medical school wasn't for me.
As “allopathic”/conventional medicine failed me, I turned to
herbalism and homeopathy. I knew I needed a more holistic approach.
The specialists weren't addressing the root of my problem. They were
only concerned with suppressing symptoms. How does that sound right
to anyone?
Through vegetarianism and trying to
address symptoms for my chronic illness, I learned more about my
body and maintaining balance through diet, supplements, exercise,
etc. I became more and more interested in food as medicine. It seemed
to me that the root of many people's illness is due to diet (not just
our choices, but contaminated foods) and our environment. As I
struggled to find what aggravated dis-ease in my own body, I began to
see some commonalities in food allergies that I shared with other
sufferers of autoimmune disorders. I experimented with raw food,
gluten-free, dairy-free, low sugar....you name it. I took more
vitamin D and more B-12. I took multivitamins and pro-biotics. There
was so much information out there and not too many people I could
trust for answers. If I had known a brown or even queer herbalist at
the beginning of this journey...it might have been easier.
Why a queer brown herbalist? Because
studies show (and trust me, I've studied this extensively) that brown
folks and queer folks do better at helping brown folks and queer
folks. No, it doesn't eliminate all the discrimination and bias...but
it does lessen it quite a bit.
You know, I get tired of folks talking
like brown folks are new to herbalism. This knowledge was stolen from
our people. Truth. Look at most of the pharmaceuticals, they use
herbs as major components and add synthetic filler. (Ex: Willow bark
in aspirin). Native Americans, Africans and other Indigenous folks
had it on lock. Healers worked with plants and addressed you
emotionally, spiritually and physically. The colonizers were the ones
who decided to split mind, spirit and body. So now we've got to go to
a psychiatrist, a preacher, AND a doctor.
Ahh me duele mi codo thinking about
that.
In other words, it hurts to think about
paying an arm and a leg for all these separate services.
The healers I know are versed in
chinese medicine, medical astrology, herbalism, Ayurveda, the chakra
system...all kinds of healing modalities. Not because they are
interested in the next new age craze, but because they are invested
in knowing as many ways as possible to heal and know that the ways
overlap and intersect.
So maybe many of our People may not trust traditional
medicine. We barely want to even go in to see a doctor, right? Well,
while I think that herbalism and other kinds of medicine can be
potentially for everyone, I understand why some people don't want to
mess with it. Especially with the mistrust we have of the medical
establishment due to some flagrant atrocities like sterilization,
experiments like Tuskegee, etc. But, I think that may be even more
reason for our community to turn to alternative healing practices.
I love that today more and more folks
of color and QPOC are becoming doulas, acupuncturists, herbalists,
etc. I'm optimistic that we are going to heal our community from the
core. Barriers to positive physical health due to bias and
discrimination need to be eradicated. In the meantime, for those of
us who are called to do this healing work, let's get the education
needed through programs, community skillshares, and elders. Why wait
around for “anti-racist” doctors, allies, and the medical system
to make changes when we can look to our own community for wellness
(culturally relevant healing!).
That said... I am fundraising for a
community herbalist program. I want to be a co-creator of this vision
for a queer and POC community that is physically, spiritually and
emotionally well. I have some ideas for how I want to use the
knowledge attained from the herbalist program. I want to:
provide
a blog detailing my journey as an herbalist
create
a quarterly zine sharing knowledge learned, dedicated to health and
food justice
Organize
a collective of holistic healers whose focus will be to provide
culturally appropriate, affordable care to people of color, the
queer community, and low/no-income folks
Organize
a holistic health event free to the public designed to provide
information on different healing modalities and promoting healthy,
culturally appropriate diets.
You
can read more about the vision here:
I
hope that you'll join me in being a co-visionary and spread the word
about the need for more Q/POC holistic healers in our communities.
Maybe
you've even felt called to become one. Let's create this new Reality
and be Whole again, individually and as a community.
