It was not a surprise to me to find out that Latin@s mesh very well with homeopathic medicine. I don’t know too many Chican@s out there who don’t have stories of their Abuela’s healing ear aches (or any other number of problems) with a little cigar smoke and deep prayers. And this article affirms that connection between home healing and ‘modern’ practices:

But Robinson’s philosophy of using herbs and natural cures is one that many people from Latin America are quick to embrace, said Ingrid Fallaque, Robinson’s translator and intermediary with the Hispanic community. Many Hispanics are familiar with natural remedies from their own countries and feel more safe using them than taking pills, said Fallaque, who is from Peru.

“When I talk to people, that’s the most important thing for them,” Fallaque said. “They grew up with it. Even my own mother used to give me herbs for everything.”

I love that there is this service available to working class Latin@s–where I live, homeopathic healing is something reserved almost exclusively for rich white folks. Nobody else can afford it.

But even as I am so glad to see this wonderful practice, it also kinda makes me mad–healing of this type didn’t just pop out of nowhere. It comes from our mothers and their mothers. Why are our mothers not recognized for the healers that they are (and I am speaking generally here, not of the woman that this story highlights)–specifically through monetary/economic recognition? Why is it that major companies (because believe me, homeopathic healing is a heeeuge business!) can ‘patent’ the knowledge of healing so that we are paying *them* for the knowledge that we supplied them with?