Steal Away Medicine: Herbs, Autonomy, and the Right to Heal
| When |
Apr 10, 2026
from 12:00 PM to 01:30 PM |
|---|---|
| Where | Center for Belonging, Access, and Engagement - Multi Purpose Room |
| Contact Name | Dr. Shelby Pumphrey |
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Join us for a lecture and interactive workshop facilitated by Spelman College Food Studies Prof. Selima Harleston Lust.
"Steal Away Medicine" is the second installment in the 2026 Black Women's Studies series. Herbal medicine has never been just about plants.
For enslaved African Americans, it was one of the few tools available for caring for the body, the spirit, and one another — practiced in stolen hours, in the dark, and in the margins of a system that refused to recognize their full humanity.
Drawing from slave narratives, ethnobotanical research, and the enduring practices of African American healing traditions, clinical herbalist and adjunct professor of African American Herbalism at Spelman College,
Selima Harleston Lust, explores what it means to tend to yourself and each other when no one else recognizes the needs or wants of your inner life.
You'll encounter stories of everyday decisions, small, yet deeply meaningful acts of nurturing that reveal a deeper framework of healing for modern times: one rooted in skill, relationship, and a refusal to surrender.
The heart of the workshop is hands-on medicine making. Participants will be introduced to a selection of plants drawn from this living tradition, explore what each one offers the body, mind and spirit, and leave with a handcrafted herbal preparation to take home
