As Featured In Refinery29: These Herbalists Are Helping Black Women Heal — One TikTok At A Time
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As Featured In Refinery29: These Herbalists Are Helping Black Women Heal — One TikTok At A Time
Press Feature | HomeEcHoney
Afya Ibomu, author and nutritionist and founder of HomeEcHoney, was featured in Refinery29's Unbothered in "These Herbalists Are Helping Black Women Heal — One TikTok At A Time," written by Celeste Polanco and originally published on August 24, 2021.
The article explores how Black herbalists are reclaiming ancestral healing traditions — using plants, food, and herbal knowledge not as a trend, but as a return to roots, care, and community healing.
In the piece, Afya speaks to the deep history Black women carry as cooks, gardeners, herbalists, midwives, and healers:
"We brought rice from Africa when we were stolen by Europeans and used our knowledge to start [what would become] the rice trade in the United States. We used our knowledge of herbs and spices to make their meals taste good."
"Black women used their ability to make food taste good to show their love [for their families]. This cuisine became known as soul food; it's now a tradition in the Black community and America. Black women always do their best in the circumstances they find themselves in."
On the new generation carrying this work forward, she says:
"I think there is a new generation of herbalists, doulas, and holistic healers in the Black community. Our inner knowing from our ancestors is waking us up to reclaim our native healing ways. The beautiful thing is that herbal and ancient ways of healing are working."
At HomeEcHoney, this is the foundation of the work: food as medicine, ancient remedies and modern nutrition, and wellness built for your real life — no extremes, no quick fixes.
