By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Herbalism is known as one of the oldest forms of medicine in the world, with deep ties to the African diaspora. A number of plant-based healing traditions have been passed down from one generation to the next—even in the age of modern pharmaceuticals.
Two women continuing to draw on their ancestors’ herbal wisdom are Monica Joseph, owner of Lakay Goods, and Shalita O’Neale, owner of Ancestors’ Dream Apothecary. Their heritage is at the heart of their entrepreneurship.
Joseph spent the first 10 years of her life in Haiti. She said she grew up around elders who depended on traditional holistic medicine out of necessity as hospitals were scarce.
“When I immigrated here to America, it was kind of a culture shock for me because there wasn’t an emphasis on daily, habitual things to do to avoid the doctors in the first place,” said Joseph.
As she grew older, she wanted to find a way to revive and preserve the knowledge of her forebears.
“I wanted to create something that could teach my children because I feel like that’s a portion of our history in the Caribbean that is getting lost by us being here and not physically being with our elders from back home. Also, our elders back home don’t do the very best job of writing things down. A lot of it’s in granny’s head,” said Joseph. “I wanted to be able to digitize that in a way.”
Lakay Goods, which Joseph launched in Washington D.C. in 2021, started as a brand that educated people about medicinal herbs and their uses. Since then, it’s evolved into supplying natural health and beauty products— like teas, honey and Haitian castor oil—that use ingredients sustainably sourced from Haiti.
In the future, Joseph hopes to one day own a farm in Haiti, where she can grow her herbs, provide employment opportunities to locals and educate others about herbalism.
“Every country in the Caribbean has their own different tradition. There’s herbs that only grow in certain countries as well. There’s herbs that you can find in Jamaica that you can’t find in Haiti. There’s herbs in Haiti that you can’t find in Trinidad,” said Joseph. “Everyone has their own herbs that they use, and I just want to highlight that for Haiti.”
While Joseph’s work is rooted in Caribbean remedies, other entrepreneurs are drawing on similar traditions in their own communities.
Unlike Joseph, O’Neale grew up in Baltimore. Her journey into herbal medicine began more than 10 years ago, sparked by an interest in gardening.
“I was at a point in my life where I wanted to be more self-sustainable,” said O’Neale. “I wanted to know more about how I could heal myself and my family.”
She began by growing vegetables, but her curiosity soon turned to plants that are known for their healing powers.
“I started looking for a master herbalist who I could study under. I was specifically looking for a Black woman that centered her practices and teachings around African spirituality and ancestral reverence,” said O’Neale. “It was really hard to find that, but I did.”
O’Neale connected with Karen M. Rose, a master herbalist based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Under Rose, she participated in a three-year apprenticeship surrounding spiritual herbalism. Following that experience, O’Neale joined a virtual program with the NCB School of Herbalism and Holistic Health, the first African-American school of herbalism in the U.S.
In 2023, she established Ancestors’ Dream Apothecary, which provides herbal teas, bath salts, tinctures, salves, soaps, lip balms, beard oils and more. The company also sells herbs themselves, including holy basil, licorice root, lemon balm, motherwort and red clover.
“The apothecary grew out of my apprenticeship with Karen Rose because one of the things we needed to do to graduate was to come up with a medicine line. Before that, I was making medicine and butters for my family and friends, and I was selling here and there. But, I didn’t have a storefront or anything,” said O’Neale. “Taking it more seriously for that assignment helped me to see that I could really do this and expand it into my community.”
Aside from healthy and beauty products, O’Neale leads events and workshops to teach people about ancestral herbalism and healing practices. In October, she will launch a series of herbal classes in Riverdale, Md.
For people who have thought about exploring herbalism, O’Neale encouraged them to follow their curiosity and seek out groups they can learn from.
“I’m trying to get people to realize that there was a time and place before Western medicine— where people didn’t have access to doctors unless they were White or rich. They survived, they thrived and they were healthy,” said O’Neale. “Now with everything that’s happening in our traditional medical system— especially for Black and Brown people— being able to remember and tap back into what our ancestors did to care for themselves is really important.”
