the neighborhood herbal, episode 4: (dream) jobs in your nghbrhd
she charges her crystals in a full moooon
(image description: still shot from Beyoncé’s Black is King visual album where she’s adorning a Black child’s face with white paint near the ocean. bold text reads, “beyoncé’s neighborhood herbal.")
every day is another day to practice abolition and the visionary world we want. every day is a day to build a more whole and more accountable (and therefore less punitive, ecologically destructive, and anti-Black) community. every day is a day to make a DIY high fashion outfit. that’s what’s been getting me up in the morning.
claiming my labor (and how much i truly love to work and grow what i find meaningful — fixed sign energy) feels significant. i wanted to take some time to write down a list of neighborhood herbal dream jobs, or life-giving labors. they’re specific, impermanent, interdependent, and connect us to life. their impact doesn’t depend on success— their failure only increases how generative they are. whether you are or aspire to be a neighborhood herbalist, i hope it reminds you of how precious your labor is for the world we’re building.
a special shoutout to the street sex workers, postal service and delivery workers, harm reductionists, home care workers, and door-knocking organizers who make the dream of neighborhood herbal work possible. may we redistribute the money of billionaires, corporations, and military spending to design new economies which value your labor.
The first rule of ecological restoration is the restoration of our own labor. Human labor is the precious natural resource, concentrated, controlled and exploited, that has been wielded like a chainsaw against the rest of the natural world. Because of this, we must take it back from the chains of the market and restore it to the web of life. — Movement Generation, Resilience-Based Organizing
four (dream) jobs for neighborhood herbalists
1. the flamingo first aid herbal gang. we dress up in fashion that pushes our imaginations and walk the streets of our invisible sidewalk neighborhood. sometimes we coordinate variations of the same outfit and wear the same color and patterns. we make pinterest boards from Beyoncé’s Black is King and our favorite herbs for inspo. we are femme androgynous wearing ball gowns, hand-dyed linen, athleisure, and sometimes suits. we are compelling neighbors because we are coordinated wilderness. we take daily walks for 15-20 minutes in the early morning. we are the ice cream truck that folks wait for. we make the neighborhood yours by being flamingos that live there; you belong because we belong there with you. first, folks make comments about our fashion. next, they ask what we are about. we tell them we are community healers, to reach out if they need support— we make home visits if needed. we carry first aid herbal bags in case there is a need in the moment. our neighbors start to call on us.
(image description: photo of Beyoncé in a Molly Goddard hot pink dress. bold text across her eyes reads, “herbal grrrl gang.”)
2. the medicinal florist. make bouquets from neighborhood flowers and medicinal weeds. drop them off at every doorstep on the block with names of the herbs and their healing properties. on the tag, invite them to a neighborhood plant walk at 9am on saturday with directions to meet in front of the Walgreens with masks to learn about the plants nearby. livestream it for the folks at home.
(image description: photo of clear vase with green leaves and white flowers on a ladder. bold text reads, “the bouquet invite.”)
3. the kindergarden abolitionist. read fumbling towards repair: a workbook for community accountability facilitators by mariame kaba and shira hassan. ask your kids or your friends with kids or the neighbor’s kids if you can host a virtual or outside in-person drawing sesh with them. invite the kids + adults to draw what a community response could be like when someone is harmed. highlight that punishing or harming people back for their unjust actions doesn’t often facilitate changed behavior. use plants to practice consent. teach kids about medicinal dandelion or show them a fig tree in the neighborhood. ask them to ask the plant for permission before they harvest the fruit or leaves. we become what we practice. remind them that the plant experiences everything that happens in the neighborhood. ask them what they feel the plant would say about how to best take care of each other.
(image description: photo of “fumbling towards repair: a workbook for community accountability” on a bed near a window overlooking palm trees. bold text reads, “talk to kids & the land about consent and abolition.”)
4. the herbal life coach. have a conversation with a person who is struggling to find their purpose and gift. learn their birth day, time, and location and pull up their birth chart on chaninicholas.com. based on what you read, design a vision board collage or “first aid kit” which reflects their gifts and potential tools for their unique journey, as you see it. ask them to take pictures of the plants in their yard — knowing sometimes the medicine we need is right at home. read about the flower essences and healing properties of the plants that live near them. include the plants as guardians of their vision. perhaps even guide them through a process of doing this on their own.
(image description: art by Ricardo Cavolo of a two-headed rabbit with the word “madriguera” tattooed on their forehead, reading a book while another book floats above their heads. bold text reads, “read charts & dreams.”)