The Afrobotanical Herbal Medicine and Land Project
Donation protected
Hey y’all!
My name is Laura-Sage Marshall, and I’m a Black, Queer herbalist from Brooklyn NYC. I began my herbalism practice two years ago while completing the Farming Intensive Certificate program at Farm School NYC. This urban agricultural education program opened doors of connection through which I was able to begin forming deep relationships with the land and with a community of folks dedicated to environmental justice and collective autonomy. Since completing the program in Fall of 2018, I have returned to school at Goddard College, where I am pursuing a BA in their Health Arts and Sciences department. Now in my second year, and against the global pandemics of anti-blackness and COVID-19, my concentration of Afrobotany feels even more necessary.
Afrobotany is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge that combines the study of afro-spirituality, afro-ecology and ethnomedicine. I currently operate a virtual apothecary and knowledge share called Funky Sista Apothecary , that provides ancestral herbal remedies and botanical resources from herbs grown and used within the African Diaspora. Since March 2020, I have provided botanical medicine for COVID-19 immune support for low to no cost, and always with sliding scale options for QTBIPoC. The joy of this practice for me lies in sharing accessible healing practices to folks that are systemically disregarded, diseased and devalued by white, heteropatriarchal supremacy.
Thus far, I have covered operating and production costs from both personal funds (such as my own savings and unemployment benefits) as well as love donations from friends, family and other community members (ranging between $10 -$75 per donation, and covering a little less than half of production costs). These donations showed me the impact of mutual aid, and reminded me that land liberation first occurred through the mutual aid practices of Southern Black farming cooperatives. As herbalism is commonly recognized as “the People’s medicine”, it felt right that so much of my herbalism practice was funded through communal efforts. In honoring this spiritual legacy of collective action and support, I have organized this crowdsourcing opportunity to support the scope at which Funky Sista Apothecary continues to provide necessary wellness opportunities that center Black and Indigenous communities.
The future I imagine for Black and Indigenous folks, especially those of us who are Queer, who are Trans, who exist marginally (yet embody resilience, ashé!), is filled with healing. I believe and remember that healing occurs through re-introducing ourselves to land and understanding its role in empowering personal and collective health. In growing our own food and in making our own medicine lie the possibilities for building communities that operate outside of manifestations of white supremacy. This GoFundMe serves a dual purpose in 1. supporting the amount, quality, and variety of medicine Funky Sista Apothecary is able to provide and 2. supporting the development of a garden that grows afrobotanical medicinal herbs for community use and healing projects.
1. Funky Sista Apothecary has thus far provided herbal medicine around COVID-19 immune support and is seeking to exponentially increase the type of remedies we make available. Funky Sista Apothecary’s growth looks like expanding our production supplies, increasing the amount and variety of herbal remedies that can be donated to individuals and Black owned/run healing initiatives, and securing the highest quality of herbs, honey and other medicine making materials.
2.Since May 2020, I have been in unity with farmers in New Orleans, Louisiana to remediate a plot of land (the Afrobotanical Sovereignty Garden) in the Lower Ninth Ward. Here I plan to grow medicinal herbs that have Black and Indigenous histories in collaboration with NOLA residents. Supporting the continued, longterm evolution of this project looks like securing seeds, soil, compost, mulch and other farming tools.
The history of herbalism in this country, on this land, is Black, is Indigenous, is Queer, is Spiritual and has always been a revolutionary tool. To support Black land stewards in this time is an act of radical love, one that reverberates throughout communities, generations and ourselves. An investment in this project is an investment in Black futures: futures that support the power of the collective, futures that are rooted in joy, abundance and life, futures that exist against and away from the colonial, imprisoning, policing landscape of white supremacy. An investment in this project protects and advocates for Black+ Indigenous life, while we are still here.
Any funds raised towards this wellness effort will be distributed towards the support of this project and the purchase of supplies outlined below. You can also send donations to $laurasagemarshall on Cashapp or @laura-sage-marshall on Venmo to offset GoFundMe’s fees. I sincerely thank you for engaging in this effort, and am eager to further a connection through [email redacted] and in the streets!
Thank you + Ashé
Laura-Sage Y Marshall
Production Supplies 4 FSA ($5,000)
-labels + stickers
-amber bottles (1oz, 2oz, 4oz)
-tincture bottles (16oz, 32oz)
-graduated droppers
-cheesecloths
-throat spray pumps
-Apple Cider Vinegar
-scale
-pots and pans
-printer
-food grade vegetable glycerine
-shipping supplies
-info cards
-cane alcohol
-strainers
-local honey
-label maker
-hot plate
-tea bags
-distiller
-scanner
-cardstock paper
-packaging boxes
Production Supplies 4 ABSG NOLA ($3,000)
-compost bin/tumbler
-soil
-mulch
-machetes (4)
-mattock (2)
-wood for signage + raised beds
-seeds
-watering cans
-harvesting tools (shears, scissors, etc)
-drying racks
MISCELLANEOUS FUNDS ($2,000):
-providing free shipping for herbal remedies to donate to healing initiatives
-educational texts to scan and provide on the Funky Sista Apothecary website
My name is Laura-Sage Marshall, and I’m a Black, Queer herbalist from Brooklyn NYC. I began my herbalism practice two years ago while completing the Farming Intensive Certificate program at Farm School NYC. This urban agricultural education program opened doors of connection through which I was able to begin forming deep relationships with the land and with a community of folks dedicated to environmental justice and collective autonomy. Since completing the program in Fall of 2018, I have returned to school at Goddard College, where I am pursuing a BA in their Health Arts and Sciences department. Now in my second year, and against the global pandemics of anti-blackness and COVID-19, my concentration of Afrobotany feels even more necessary.
Afrobotany is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge that combines the study of afro-spirituality, afro-ecology and ethnomedicine. I currently operate a virtual apothecary and knowledge share called Funky Sista Apothecary , that provides ancestral herbal remedies and botanical resources from herbs grown and used within the African Diaspora. Since March 2020, I have provided botanical medicine for COVID-19 immune support for low to no cost, and always with sliding scale options for QTBIPoC. The joy of this practice for me lies in sharing accessible healing practices to folks that are systemically disregarded, diseased and devalued by white, heteropatriarchal supremacy.
Thus far, I have covered operating and production costs from both personal funds (such as my own savings and unemployment benefits) as well as love donations from friends, family and other community members (ranging between $10 -$75 per donation, and covering a little less than half of production costs). These donations showed me the impact of mutual aid, and reminded me that land liberation first occurred through the mutual aid practices of Southern Black farming cooperatives. As herbalism is commonly recognized as “the People’s medicine”, it felt right that so much of my herbalism practice was funded through communal efforts. In honoring this spiritual legacy of collective action and support, I have organized this crowdsourcing opportunity to support the scope at which Funky Sista Apothecary continues to provide necessary wellness opportunities that center Black and Indigenous communities.
The future I imagine for Black and Indigenous folks, especially those of us who are Queer, who are Trans, who exist marginally (yet embody resilience, ashé!), is filled with healing. I believe and remember that healing occurs through re-introducing ourselves to land and understanding its role in empowering personal and collective health. In growing our own food and in making our own medicine lie the possibilities for building communities that operate outside of manifestations of white supremacy. This GoFundMe serves a dual purpose in 1. supporting the amount, quality, and variety of medicine Funky Sista Apothecary is able to provide and 2. supporting the development of a garden that grows afrobotanical medicinal herbs for community use and healing projects.
1. Funky Sista Apothecary has thus far provided herbal medicine around COVID-19 immune support and is seeking to exponentially increase the type of remedies we make available. Funky Sista Apothecary’s growth looks like expanding our production supplies, increasing the amount and variety of herbal remedies that can be donated to individuals and Black owned/run healing initiatives, and securing the highest quality of herbs, honey and other medicine making materials.
2.Since May 2020, I have been in unity with farmers in New Orleans, Louisiana to remediate a plot of land (the Afrobotanical Sovereignty Garden) in the Lower Ninth Ward. Here I plan to grow medicinal herbs that have Black and Indigenous histories in collaboration with NOLA residents. Supporting the continued, longterm evolution of this project looks like securing seeds, soil, compost, mulch and other farming tools.
The history of herbalism in this country, on this land, is Black, is Indigenous, is Queer, is Spiritual and has always been a revolutionary tool. To support Black land stewards in this time is an act of radical love, one that reverberates throughout communities, generations and ourselves. An investment in this project is an investment in Black futures: futures that support the power of the collective, futures that are rooted in joy, abundance and life, futures that exist against and away from the colonial, imprisoning, policing landscape of white supremacy. An investment in this project protects and advocates for Black+ Indigenous life, while we are still here.
Any funds raised towards this wellness effort will be distributed towards the support of this project and the purchase of supplies outlined below. You can also send donations to $laurasagemarshall on Cashapp or @laura-sage-marshall on Venmo to offset GoFundMe’s fees. I sincerely thank you for engaging in this effort, and am eager to further a connection through [email redacted] and in the streets!
Thank you + Ashé
Laura-Sage Y Marshall
Production Supplies 4 FSA ($5,000)
-labels + stickers
-amber bottles (1oz, 2oz, 4oz)
-tincture bottles (16oz, 32oz)
-graduated droppers
-cheesecloths
-throat spray pumps
-Apple Cider Vinegar
-scale
-pots and pans
-printer
-food grade vegetable glycerine
-shipping supplies
-info cards
-cane alcohol
-strainers
-local honey
-label maker
-hot plate
-tea bags
-distiller
-scanner
-cardstock paper
-packaging boxes
Production Supplies 4 ABSG NOLA ($3,000)
-compost bin/tumbler
-soil
-mulch
-machetes (4)
-mattock (2)
-wood for signage + raised beds
-seeds
-watering cans
-harvesting tools (shears, scissors, etc)
-drying racks
MISCELLANEOUS FUNDS ($2,000):
-providing free shipping for herbal remedies to donate to healing initiatives
-educational texts to scan and provide on the Funky Sista Apothecary website
Organizer
Laura-sage Yara Marshall
Organizer
New Orleans, LA