with Leah Penniman & Antonia Estela Perez
September 3, 2020, 5:00 pm – 6:30 p.m EST / 2:00 – 3:30 p.m PST
“Fey nan bwa rele mwe! O depi m peti, m’ap danse la!” (Leaves in the woods, they call me. Since I was small, I have danced here) ~Haitian prayer
Our people’s relationship with plant medicine extends even before our first written account in 1500 BCE on the Ebers Papyrus, on which ancient Egyptians listed the recipes for over 850 herbal medicines. Our knowledge of plants traveled with us in the bowels of slave ships and was kept alive in the root and conjure work of the Black American South, in Harriet Tubman’s deft use of wild plants to keep her underground railroad passengers healthy, and in the natural pharmacies of Orisa worshippers. In this workshop we explore how to cultivate, wildcraft, and use herbs that have been important to Black health. Integrating spiritual folk wisdom and Western science, this workshop will help us understand how plant allies can assist in our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Together we will explore:
- How to start perennial herbs from seed
- How to propagate perennial herbs from cuttings and divisions
- Perennial care and harvesting
- Common herbs and their healing properties
- How to dry and process herbs for teas and steams
- How to make an herbal salve
- How to make a tincture
- Sustainable and honorable wildcrafting
- Plant friends as spiritual medicine
Presenter Bios:
Leah Penniman, (Li*/Ya/She/He) has over 20 years of experience as a soil steward and food sovereignty activist, having worked at the Food Project, Farm School, Many Hands Organic Farm, Youth Grow and with farmers internationally in Ghana, Haiti, and Mexico. Li co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to reclaim our inherent right to belong to the earth and have agency in the food system as Black and Brown people. Her areas of leadership at Soul Fire include farmer training, international solidarity, perennials, writing, speaking, “making it rain,” and anything that involves heavy lifting, sweat, and soil. Li’s book “Farming While Black” is a love song for the earth and her peoples.
Antonia Estela Perez (She/They/We) is a clinical herbalist, gardener and artist, born and raised in NYC. They have apprenticed with several herbalists around the Northeast, Central and South America, and Thailand. They graduated from Bard College where they studied environmental and urban studies in 2015 and Arborvitae School of Traditional Herbal Medicine in 2019. They are a community organizer, gardener, food and environmental justice educator. They are also the co-founder of collectives: Brujas and Herban Cura. They are passionate to share their knowledge with other folks especially in urban centers, in order to interrupt notions of individualism and separatism from nature and grow towards collaborative and symbiotic communities.