Plant Ramble for Border Kindness with Dana L Woodruff of Dandelioness Herbals Friday Aug 2nd, 2019 5:30-7pm Plainfield Farmers Market, on the lawn of the Grace United Methodist Church Plainfield, Vermont
Let's TGIF together and get to know (better) the plants all around us in the village. We'll focus on a few abundant local "weeds" and the food, medicine, and lessons that they offer. This plant walk will be part super basic plant identification, part storytelling session, and part herbal first aid/wellness class. We'll share simple recipes for making food and remedies to share with our community and loved ones, and discuss ways that plants support social justice movements near and far.
We'll gather at the Plainfield Farmers Market (on the lawn of the Grace United Methodist Church) at 5:30pm and then we'll make our way over to the Rec Field, visiting plants along the way. All ages and experience levels welcome. Event is sprinkle or shine (if it's really pouring we'll postpone). Please RSVP if you can via email: dandelion778 (at) yahoo (dot) com or send a message via Facebook to Dandelioness Herbals. By donation $1-100+ cash at the plant walk or via Paypal, no one turned away for lack of funds. This event is a fundraiser for Border Kindness. If anyone would like to contribute to our collective donation w/o attending the plant walk, you can send $ via PayPal to paypal.me/dandelioness or send me a message.
WHAT IS BORDER KINDNESS? Border Kindness is an organization based in Mexicali, Mexico, that has been providing 1,500 meals daily, supporting members of the migrant community in intense summer heat, including those that are being deported from the US and left in an unfamiliar area, sometimes without even their shoes."Border Kindness provides migrants, refugees, and the displaced with comprehensive services that include food, shelter, clothing and medical care. Our programs and interventions are designed to identify, protect and nurture the most vulnerable – including women, children, elderly and families. Border Kindness believes everyone should have the opportunity to live free of pain, hunger, intimidation and fear. We believe everyone is our neighbor." For more info, click here.
ACCESSIBILITY + TRANSPORTATION We will ramble from the church on flat, paved sidewalk down Mill St to Rec Field Rd. There are no steps to the Rec Field, but there is a medium-steep, unpaved hill down to the field. There is a parking lot with plenty of parking and Port-a-Potty that is not wheelchair-accessible at the Rec Field. Please let me know if you have any questions.Please bring water and whatever else you need in order to be comfortable for our time together (sun, rain, bugs, etc). Plant walk will be in English, with Spanish clarification throughout if anyone would like.Carpooling encouraged, feel free to post on this page to coordinate. The church is on the GMT/RCA Route 2 Commuter bus between Montpelier and St. Johnsbury for those who would like to arrive via bus from either direction (though the plant ramble will end after the last bus).
Reciprocity and Reparations: Ways to Give Back as Herbalists
For those of us who support community healing and know that dismantling racism is at the very foundation of this, there are many ways that we as herbalists can show up for and support each other. Whether sending first aid supplies to those stopping pipelines, remedies for tear gas exposure and grief to community members affirming that Black Lives Matters, teas and glycerites to free and sliding-scale clinics, salves to the US/Mexican border, or fundraising for people of color-led projects, there are many details we can be attentive to so that our herbal support is truly rooted in solidarity. We’ll explore not only the practical details of coordinating herbal donations, but how we can do so in a way that interrupts the all-too-common ‘white savior’ complex and ego tripping. Deeply exploring our intentions and impacts strengthens our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the plants, so that we can make and share good medicine and be part of cultivating collective healing.
This page is a space where folks can share resources, thoughts, and questions in the comments below. The comments are moderated, so your message will not appear immediately, but I will approve it soon as long as it pertains to the topic, is helpful for community dialogue, and isn't racist/victim-blaming/otherwise problematic. {Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's become necessary due to spam and trolls} I will be adding resources created for and from this class in the future here on this page. I am also co-teaching an intensive with Ayo Ngozi and Stephanie Morningstar: Intersections Between Herbalism, Health, and Justice: Moving from “Allyship” to “Accompliceship." I will post a link to the handout here after the conference.
The first resource to be posted here is this important video: "Freaked out by police? Pissed about ICE? Outraged at gentrification? What should we do? People are overwhelmed, pissed, and scared right now. This video is about how mutual aid projects are a way to plug into helping people and mobilizing for change. Check out the mutual aid toolkit at BigDoorBrigade.com for more inspiration and information about starting mutual aid projects where you live!"
"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." ~ Lilla Watson, Indigenous Australian visual artist, activist, and academic
