All of us embody a common lineage which connects us directly to the plant world as a source of living energy and ancestral genetic information. It is part of our legacy to keep this connection alive in the face of capitalist destruction. An important part of the answer is to bring this awareness back through each of our bodies, to keep the flame of our intuition burning brightly. It is through the intuitive approach to knowledge that the tables of power can be turned in favor of the dispossessed.

In order to take people’s autonomy away, colonization attempted to erase peoples connection to land and medicine. However, plant medicine has always been used by the people for survival. When farmed food has not been available, people have eaten what western culture considers to be “weeds.”

This skillshare will be focused on learning the history and medicinal properties of plants that grow in NYC and how these plants can be used for common ailments. Participants will learn to make an herbal balm with the herbs discussed.

We are currently seeing a rising trend in herbal medicine. While this theoretically could provide a sustainable alternative to our current medical-industrial health care system, the prices of the medicines being sold are oftentimes inaccessible to working-class people, making herbal medicine an alternative more for the elite.