Herbal Medicine from trees of Life

For thousands of years indigenous people have employed the wonders of natural medicines. Often times these cultures have a medicine man/woman, who serves as the keeper and practitioner of the ancient knowledge and art of herbal healing. It is only in recent history that medicines have been produced in large quantities using artificial ingredients produced in some laboratory. These artificial aids often cause harmful side effects within the user, which in some extreme cases includes death. Conversely, natural medicines such as herbs and plants are from the natural environment and cause very little if any side effects. Also, the artificial methods and medicines of the Western world only ease symptoms and allow the patient to participate in everyday life with minor hindrances, where the focus of indigenous Eastern medicines is to cure the patient where they never have to worry about the ailment again. For example, in America many children are stricken with asthma, and they are taken to doctors who prescribe all types of drugs and apparatuses to only ease the pain and prevent death. But our tour guide showed us an elixir that is made of all natural ingredients that can cure asthma in children between the ages 6-12. Also unlike western medicine which only focuses on empirical sciences like biology, physics and chemistry, eastern medicine takes a holistic approach and involves metaphysical sciences along with empirical sciences to ensure that all possible causes of an illness may be handled properly.
The center we visited had a plethora of medicines and herbs that could be purchased and used for common diseases and illnesses that plague African Americans. I purchased some tea to help diabetes, some syrup that helps cure anemia, and some meringue pills which strengthen the whole body and its systems. I will send the e-mail address to order some of the medicine in a later post. Peace.

"..Black Star Shine Eternally.."-Mos Def

African Liberation Day was a very unique and inspiring event. The day was split into two separate parts. The first half took place at the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum. Here, there was a wreath laying ceremony, songs of joy and pride were sung, and countless African dignitaries came to honor the father of Ghana, Osageyfo Kwame Nkrumah. The most notable among the attendees were Kwame Nkrumah’s daughter and son who are currently active in Ghanaian politics.
Shortly before the Ceremony began the speech given by Dr. Nkrumah on the night of Ghana’s independence was played over the loud speaker. Within his legendary speech, Nkrumah mentioned of an “African identity” and urged all of Africa to exercise self determination as a single unified front. Although the speech was originally given over 50 years ago, Africa is still in need of an identity that originates from within African society and not imposed on them by their former colonial masters or their current neo-colonial exploiters.
After the ceremony was finished we were able to join the world’s leading Pan-African activists at conference center in Ghana. The dialogue was amazing, and I was able to extrapolate several key points which are: (1) there must be no borders in the minds of Africans. The possibilities for growth, unity, and international influence are endless. (2) We must develop a new conception of energy production. (3) As Africans, spirituality and morals are our greatest tools. The first point is essentially saying that we need to be creative, utilize new approaches that will help Africans and Africa improve their current international status. We must be able to willingly accept confrontation in order to develop practical solution to our problems. The second point deals with ecological integrity. One of the panelists sad our place within the whole must dictate energy production. It would certainly behoove continental Africa to do away with western ideologies when energy production is concerned. We are inherently held accountable for how we treat Asase Yaa (mother earth), and must not neglect to handle the many natural resources within Africa with care, respect, and modesty, if we want to see the resurgence of Africa. Lastly, Dr. Nkrumah said that morality and spirituality should be our primary tools for victory over injustice. We must never stray from these because we as Africans brought God-consciousness to the world and gave the world its first codes of ethics. Naturally, we must build upon the solid foundation that our ancestors have laid and we will surely emerge victorious.

"It may not be such a bad idea if I never went home again" - Gil Scott Heron

The re-patriots from America to Ghana had a wealth of knowledge and experience that they shared with us. Several years I made the decision that I would not make my eternal transition in America or solely as an American citizen. With that said, I didn’t need to be convinced that America isn’t for me or my people. Visiting the re-patriots only affirmed and validated sentiments that I have been feeling for quite some time.
Each of the re-patriots shared a brief history of themselves and how they managed to return home. I personally identified with youngest man who was a part of the panel. His story is very similar to mine because he, like me, has always been around the sounds and symbols of African liberation and African pride. Our parents instilled within us, at a very early age, who we are and a strong conviction to be proud of that particular identity. It is no wonder that his allegiance has led him back to Africa and I am not all surprised that I am on the same path.
One of the most important pieces that I extracted from the interaction was when “Mama Afrika” began to highlight a few of the difficulties one will face during their individual repatriation transition. The biggest difficulty, which I have already experienced, is the language barrier. Even though both Black Americans and Ghanaians speak English it is still difficult to communicate due to subtleties of language. Inflection, connotation, slang, and interpretation are all very different between the two cultures. Lastly the most inspiring thing I took away from the meeting was, a strong confidence that by the time I am ready to “come home”, a strong community of re-patriots will already be there and thriving before I arrive. I was grateful for everything they shared with us and hope to be able to join them soon.