From One Generation to the Next
Introducing Bella & Ichiro
protests like Occupy the Farm, I learned how much I enjoyed having my hands in the soil and eating the literal fruits of my labor while also having a feeling of empowerment like I was doing a small, necessary part to make my community a better place. As my pregnancy progressed, I began seeking out natural products to use only to find that they were mislabeled and expensive, but my renewed love of natural products had to be satiated. So, I started making my own again, just like my Grandmother did when I was younger.
As I began to make this a lifestyle for my newborn and I, going back out to help my community was something that I yearned to do, but this new life of single motherhood was a challenge to navigate. Come to think of it, I can't remember excessive trips to the hospital in my youth because we only went to the doctor if we had broken something or were dying. Short of that, my Grandmother would whip up a natural medicine, tea or soup, and nurse us back to health. I know factually that majority of the medicines we take are derived from plant-based extracts, so why couldn't I harvest that power for myself? It seemed like a logical thought process, especially since I could no longer recognize the ingredients in several of the products I was using at the time. Lotions, lipsticks, soaps... everything. Giving products to my family and friends, I realized that I had stumbled upon a way to continue to stay active by providing realistic options for complementary and alternative medicines. This small idea began to pave the way for bigger things. After all, having a new little life is big motivation.
As I began to make this a lifestyle for my newborn and I, going back out to help my community was something that I yearned to do, but this new life of single motherhood was a challenge to navigate. Come to think of it, I can't remember excessive trips to the hospital in my youth because we only went to the doctor if we had broken something or were dying. Short of that, my Grandmother would whip up a natural medicine, tea or soup, and nurse us back to health. I know factually that majority of the medicines we take are derived from plant-based extracts, so why couldn't I harvest that power for myself? It seemed like a logical thought process, especially since I could no longer recognize the ingredients in several of the products I was using at the time. Lotions, lipsticks, soaps... everything. Giving products to my family and friends, I realized that I had stumbled upon a way to continue to stay active by providing realistic options for complementary and alternative medicines. This small idea began to pave the way for bigger things. After all, having a new little life is big motivation.
Knowing that I had this new life to take care of, I took it a bit further than eating healthy and drinking fruit flavored waters instead of juices. I began researching ways to live a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. The internet is an amazing place, full of information, but I was bothered as a Black woman about the lack of an ability to easily discover tricks that worked at home for my particular skin care needs. Admittedly, if it were just myself I would have never started taking organic products so seriously, but I have a problem putting chemicals on my sons skin for absorption and I don't fully know what they are. After the unfortunate passing of my mother, and the need to relocate to a desert climate, the desire to maintain moisture without a chemical dependency became even more important to me. As I started making my own products, I also wanted to inform people about the alternatives I was using, and how to do these very same things themselves. After all, knowledge is power and as human beings, we should all be able to survive off of the land.
Today, I sit here a single mother of a toddler and doing my best to raise him responsibly. That is the single driving force behind this entire thing. I love my son, and while at times it drives me crazy this is one of the things I do to attempt to protect him from some of the very real threats of the world. Some are silent like chemicals in our food, baby bottles, diapers, skin care products, food etc., and others have thousands gathered in the street fighting against the threats to life that are more obvious. This helps me rest a little bit easier as a mother knowing that I am raising my son with valuable skills, to be able to grow his own food, to be able to make his own products and to be able to have the discipline to not protest injustice with only a picket sign in the street but also in his everyday life practices.
Today, I sit here a single mother of a toddler and doing my best to raise him responsibly. That is the single driving force behind this entire thing. I love my son, and while at times it drives me crazy this is one of the things I do to attempt to protect him from some of the very real threats of the world. Some are silent like chemicals in our food, baby bottles, diapers, skin care products, food etc., and others have thousands gathered in the street fighting against the threats to life that are more obvious. This helps me rest a little bit easier as a mother knowing that I am raising my son with valuable skills, to be able to grow his own food, to be able to make his own products and to be able to have the discipline to not protest injustice with only a picket sign in the street but also in his everyday life practices.
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