By Selima Iwilla Harleston Lust, Clinical Herbalist
Published: September 18, 2026 

That when you pick up most herbal books you never see yourself in them.

We’ll see chapters on Indigenous nations as we should, but also Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, the ancient Greeks, sometimes Africa as if the people who reside there are all the same. And of course the North American eclectics who are practically worshipped like gods.

But pages dedicated to the singular experience, wisdom, and resourcefulness of African Americans in this country are very rare.

I remember the moment I stood in a bookstore, flipping through pages of an herbal book I was considering purchasing when I came across a line that basically said African Americans didn’t contribute anything to herbalism here.

You know those scenes in movies where the character just explodes, feels helpless, enraged, and proceeds to destroy every object in the room. I always shake my head at those scenes because now they gotta clean all the shit up!

But in that moment in the bookstore, reading this line, which was written so matter of factly I nearly lost it.

I was flipping the page to see if there was more. More context, more nuance, more of anything. Nope. In that moment I understood how you can be filled with so much emotion that the only impulse you have is to fuck some shit up. But as a fellow small business owner, I was not going to damage their shelves. All I could do was try to hide my tears as I walked out. 

Because it wasn’t the first time. As Black herbalists we experience this invisibility of our ancestors everywhere, even when folks are actively co-opting and earning off of their practices just like enslavers did during the antebellum period.

Out of one side of their mouths they’re saying our ancestors aren’t intelligent and don’t know anything about healing, while out the other side they’re looking over our ancestors’ shoulders writing down the herbal blends and putting the recipes in their plantation journals.

I say this all the time, but I really don’t think people get it. If not for herbalism, we wouldn’t be here. I am not being hyperbolic. It is true for every culture because prior to modern medicine, plants were all everyone had.

But plants held an indelible role in the survival of roughly 10 million people who were enslaved in what is now the United States—people brutally kidnapped, tortured, raped, and bred under a system of chattel slavery. What closed their wounds, supplemented their nutrition, sheltered them when they escaped or stole away to learn how to read,  opened portals for rituals before rebellions, and allowed them to claim agency over their bodies by refusing to birth more children who would never be free?

I’m glad that author wrote down how she really felt because do you know what it emboldened me to do?

I pioneered the first ever collegiate African American Herbalism course at my alma mater, Spelman College.

I’m currently teaching my 4th cohort and not only is this class an homage to our ancestors, it is a correction of herbal memory.

We need to take the mic, y’all. Share our experiences, reclaim our narratives, archive our stories, and research our own history because while the truth of our ancestors’ legacy lives in our cells, we need to keep those receipts on the tips of our tongues.

And be proud. Be consumed by—and drown in—absolute reverence and adoration that we are here and come from their genius, their will, and courage.

Black herbalism is not an aside to American herbal history. It is one of its essential lineages.

Where can you learn for free?

LIBRARIES!

Archives, ancestor (formerly enslaved) narratives, WPA Narratives, as well as plantation diaries and antebellum medical journals to understand the soul-stirring, violent conditions they survived-and they created and protected.

Before You Go...

I have one more piece of exciting news to share.

The Confident Family Herbalist is now available for preorder on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

This book is the one I wish I'd had when I first started learning herbalism. It's practical, evidence-informed, and rooted in the belief that herbs are powerful—but so is knowing when they are enough, when they work beautifully alongside conventional medicine, and when it's time to seek additional care.

I wrote it to help you build confidence, not certainty. To help you make thoughtful decisions instead of fearful ones. And to become the kind of herbalist who understands not only what plants can do, but also how to use them responsibly.

If you've been meaning to add it to your herbal library, I'd be honored if you preordered a copy.

You can now preorder wherever you prefer to buy books, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. And you can still get 20% off plus free shipping when you support the publisher directly. Code: CFH20.

Thank you for cheering me on through every chapter, every revision, and every season of bringing this book into the world. I truly can't wait for it to be in your hands.

With joy,
Selima

This article is for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for care from your doctor, midwife, pharmacist, or other qualified provider. Herbs can interact with medications and are not right for every body or every circumstance. Talk with your healthcare provider before starting any herb, especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, giving herbs to a child, managing a health condition, or taking prescribed medication. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call emergency services.