For the final episode of Season 2, I share with you excerpts from the Tobacco chapter of Plant Songs: Reflections on Herbal Medicine.

Tobacco is demonized by many as a deadly killer, but she is also one the most sacred plants on Earth. Grown across the Americas by people from Chile to Canada, Tobacco has been a predominant crop and sacred plant for thousands of years.

As the mass colonization of the continent increased throughout the eighteen century, Tobacco would be exploited and marketed to consumers as a panacea for all their ills. An ugly reality in the tobacco trade is slavery was a necessity for the colonizers to maximum profit. Without the impressed labor of slaves, the wealth derived by settlers to facilitate and ensure independence from England would not have been possible.

It’s disturbing to realize that while our founding fathers were fighting for their freedom, that freedom was only possible by enslaving others. It’s disgusting and that’s why I will not be celebrating “Independence” Day tomorrow. Instead I will continue to speak out against the continuous oppression of people of color in America. I will look deep into my own history and own my place in the continuation of white supremacy in America. It ain’t easy y’all, but it is necessary if we truly want to be the America we believe we are.

For the rest of Summer I’ll be periodically re-playing some of my favorite Herb Walk interviews from the past two seasons. There will be one special episode of me talking about The Red Earth Herbal Gathering coming up in September!

Sit back, listen and have a great summer!

With love,

Jessica

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