In this episode, Nicole (she/her) talks all about the new Herbalism and State Violence book! She shares about the different sections and content of the book, where to buy it and more. 

The book blurb: State violence is a brutal reality for vast numbers of people. It is an experience that is racialised, classed and gendered in its design and application. It intersects with nearly all forms of oppression. Plant medicines can be a tool for solidarity and resistance; they can practically support us to survive and they can help us recover from trauma.

From herbal care for handcuff injuries to healing from incarceration, this book looks at examples from around the world of herbal solidarity in practice. Writing from her lived experience of incarceration, political organising and of running the Solidarity Apothecary, Nicole Rose explores some of the many connections between herbalism and struggles for liberation. Through recipes, remedies and stories from the herbal frontlines, she invites us to connect with our allies in struggle – the plants – to rest, to heal and to continue the fight.

Links & resources from this episode

• About the book
• Read the first few pages here
• How to order

Find them all at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast/

Support the show

Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by @amani_writes | In solidarity, please subscribe, rate & review this podcast wherever you listen.

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism podcast with your host Nicole Rose from the Solidarity Apothecary.

This is your place for all things plants and liberation.

Let's get started.

Hello, welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

I published an episode this morning, an interview with my friend Rasheeqa, who's a community herbalist in London and Yeah, I hope you have had a listen.

It's a really lovely interview all about kind of herbalism work, like in a sort of more grounded kind of community context.

And I think what she's doing is super inspiring.

So please have a listen.

This episode, I actually wanted to talk about my new book.

It's the herbalism and state violence book.

I kind of officially launched it yesterday.

On my day, it's been so much work.

I've been on a real deadline because of expecting the baby at the end of April.

So yeah, I'm very happy that it's going to print now Active Distribution, the kind of anarchist distro who have published my other books have organised all the printing which I really appreciate and I should get the copies in mid March, so I'll be sending them out hopefully by the 20th of March just in time, hopefully I don't go into early labour.

But yeah, so this episode I just wanted to kind of like chat about the book really and what it's about with the hope that maybe folks will, yeah, will buy it or share it with people or just, yeah, you know, get involved somehow so I'm going to read you the kind of blurb at the back that my friend Kes wrote.

Actually I wrote Draft and she edited it.

We had a real fun game editing the book.

I don't know if people know Kes Otter Lieffe.

Like, she's amazing, like, trans woman who's written all these, like, awesome like, speculative fiction novels about resistance and just, yeah, like, really beautiful writer.

And, I've been kind of paying her to help me kind of, like, get the book done and Listen to me and kind of transcribe what I'm saying and then I'll edit it and then she'll edit it and but we were joking for the back of the book of like just my writing of like blah blah blah roses roses roses blah blah blah tool in the toolbox blah blah blah blah And it's probably not funny unless you've been involved in writing.

But I think you don't realize until you produce something of this size, like, quite how dependent you are on, like, certain certain terms.

Like, I think a tool in the toolbox, like, I searched the drive and it was, like, there, like, 80 times or something completely ridiculous.

And I loved her editing because she always kind of, like, Called out how things like the state shouldn't have metaphors that were like based on living beings So like I wrote a sentence about like the tentacles of state violence and she was like no I love squids and octopus like the state do not get tentacles.

And yeah, it was just like It's just so funny.

So anyway, so we've put the state has weapons and the rest of us have hearts and tentacles and living beautiful things Anyway, okay.

So this is the blurb State violence is a brutal reality for vast numbers of people.

It is an experience that is racialized, classed and gendered in its design and application.

It intersects with nearly all forms of oppression.

Plant medicines can be a tool for solidarity and resistance.

They can practically support us to survive and they can help us recover from trauma.

From herbal care for handcuff injuries to healing from incarceration.

This book looks at examples from around the world of herbal solidarity in practice.

Writing from her lived experience of incarceration, political organizing and of running the Solidarity Apothecary, Nicole Rose explores some of the many connections between herbalism and struggles for liberation.

Through recipes, remedies and stories from the herbal frontlines, she invites us to connect with our allies in struggle.

It's so funny how uncomfortable I felt being referenced on the back, but yeah, I've kind of like settled into it now.

And yeah, I'm really happy with it.

So I'll put a link in the show notes where you can order it.

It's 12.

A ship worldwide, unfortunately it's so big, it's 444 pages, so it's really chunky, it's like 3 4 times the size of my other books.

So it kind of counts as like a small parcel, so like to ship to America it's like 20.

I was just like, oh god, no one's going to order it, but yeah, it's only 3.

50 for people in the UK, and I think like 11 for people in mainland Europe.

So anyway, I'm sorry about the cost of it.

Hopefully, we can get it across the Atlantic at some point, so it's like more affordable and accessible for people.

But yeah, I know it's kind of a big investment for folks living in the US and Canada and stuff, so I appreciate your orders!

If you're paying that much for postage, it really means the world to me.

That Yeah, the orders are still coming through.

Okay, so let's chat about the book.

So just a bit of like, origin, I guess.

I originally wanted to make a zine.

All my books start out as like, Let's do a zine!

Like the Prisoner's Herbal was meant to be a zine and then became this big thing.

But yeah, like I put a call out in January 2020 and I wanted to include examples from different projects around the world from people doing kind of solidarity work with people experiencing state violence and using herbalism.

And then as people can remember the pandemic hit and just kind of like all hell broke loose really like over those years like it was.

Yeah, super intense in terms of you know, organizing the clinic in Calais and doing loads of kind of herbal solidarity stuff and getting care packages out to people left, right and center.

And yeah, but I did get like in that first wave, I did get lots of amazing contributions, which I'll talk about.

And then, yeah, I kind of had it on the back burner and was like gently putting together Yeah.

Yeah.

some of the other bits of content.

And then kind of once my nausea and vomiting shifted at sort of six months into my pregnancy, I just was like, I want to do this thing.

Like, it's a perfect project for me while I'm pretty much still housebound.

I mean, my nausea is like, you know, shit loads better, but I'm still, you know, I still get sick if I travel in the car and stuff like that.

So I thought it's a really good project to do while I'm in that kind of like home bound nesting mode.

And I spoke to Kes and she was up for supporting me and yeah, it just became my like full time focus So I've just been squirreling away at it very intensely.

And yeah, very happy that it's kind of Complete but yeah, I would have I think if I wasn't pregnant I would have taken more Like spaciousness over it and maybe cultivated a few other contributions like there's some people that really wanted to send things in and I didn't get back to them in time like my friend Heather in Mexico and I feel really bad about it.

And yeah, like I think Yeah, you know I hate myself that I have a tendency to do things sometimes too quickly, but at the same time I'm also aware that like, you know, on the auto responder of my emails has been like about the book and calls for contributions and I have had them come through the last couple of years so it has been in like the ether for a long time if that makes sense.

Anyway it is what it is and I'm just seeing it like I write, there's a section at the beginning of the book where I'm kind of talking about like the limitations of the book and content I would love to include it and you know in that I just say like there's just like endless examples of state violence and there's so many beautiful iterations of herbalism around the world and people doing amazing work that you know like I said it's at 444 pages like it would have been difficult to get Any more contributions in there.

So I'm just seeing it as like, this is just like, you know, first off the gate kind of thing, like this is just a first step.

And that I'll continue to interview people, for example, on this podcast and in other projects, and maybe we could do a volume two or something, I don't know, but it really is just kind of like, you know, the kind of foundations, if that makes sense.

Okay, so a little bit about what's inside.

So the first part is about like state violence and the body and it's kind of introducing, you know, what are the connections between herbalism and state violence and about kind of trauma in the body and different sort of nervous system states and how trauma contributes to chronic illness.

You know, a lot of the content in this first section is drawing on the work that I've done with my herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress course, but it's obviously just kind of an introduction to that because that's, you know, like a massive course with 60 lessons and a lot of content.

But I also talk about collective responses to trauma, like and how, you know, this kind of framework that I've shared.

On Instagram and in the course and stuff like about kind of rest, release reconnect and resistance, like these kind of four stages of trauma recovery, which are more kind of collectively orientated.

And then there is a contribution about polyvagal theory, and there's also a really beautiful contribution about kind of plant imagination.

So like for people for example that are incarcerated who can't actually access herbs like physically they can you know do like a journey with plants and I think it's yeah like just like a lovely contribution to the book.

And then part two is all about kind of state repression.

So this is like state repression in terms of people being criminalized in terms of repression against political organizers like I share about.

My kind of decade of state repression and what happened to our campaign and the kind of various layers of like police violence and surveillance and media work and everything else that kind of suppressed our resistance.

So in this section, I've got like a whole bunch of stuff.

There's things around like herbal support for shock and kind of police raids.

There's a large piece about herbal support for panic attacks and there's also some stuff in there around kind of like long term chronic stress and kind of defendant support.

So like, if you're someone experiencing repression you know, you've got like an impending court case or something, for example, it's kind of like how, yeah, like.

How do you navigate that?

Like, how do you take care of yourself?

Different strategies.

Like, I've been supporting defendants for a really, really, really long time.

I've seen everything under the sun from people that, you know, completely avoid what's going on to people that are, like, super, kind of, controlling about the whole thing and just, yeah, just kind of, like, top tips, I guess, of how to navigate that kind of, like, chronic, enduring state violence.

And then I've got stuff around like court support packs from my experiences with the apothecary some lovely stuff from the U.

S.

who where people from this amazing project called Herbalista were sending like these like aromatherapy sniffers to people like kind of caught up in the J 20 case.

There's like various tea blends and glycerite blends.

There's a really lovely contribution about kind of like a soothing, soothing kind of herbal milk blend.

Like different spices.

That's like wonderful for the nervous system.

There's stuff around nutritional resilience and also kind of how trauma affects the gut.

And also a really beautiful contribution about kind of life in like forest defense and different kind of herbal remedies for tear gas and stuff like that.

So yeah, it's like a very chunky section.

I guess it's been like a real mainstay of the Solidarity Apothecary is supporting people going through trials and Yeah, kind of experiencing that kind of long term repression, so yeah, and then part three is all about police violence so this is kind of more, like, street medic stuff, so there's different, I've kind of, like, brought together different resources, because obviously there's, like, a billion online, right, but I've just tried to, like, pick the, not the best ones, but, like, the most useful ones.

Around kind of like riot medicine and you know, what to pack as a street medic and stuff.

And there's like a little bit in there about my experiences.

And then I kind of share part of a zine that was produced about herbal first aid aftercare for people who've experienced police violence from like a collective who put that together during the George Floyd uprising.

So I'm super grateful for that contribution and I've got things in there from that, including like liver support, respiratory support, you know, from kind of chemical weapons, exposure, like remedies for handcuff injuries, taser injuries, things like this there's contribution about mugwort, hydrosol as kind of like chemical weapon aftercare, and then I've got some examples of support that was sent to people engaged in this kind of like frontline resistance stuff in the sense of like occupations against this like high speed railway in the UK and also like the badger coal in the UK which is kind of like this state project to murder like thousands of badgers mostly around the southwest of England so yeah and there's like different recipes in that section again like fire cider and a different project about getting tea out to people during the Black Lives Matter kind of movement, kind of resurgence or uprising in 2020 and stuff around how to support a herbal call to action.

So again, another very comprehensive section.

And then part four is like all about prison.

So yeah, I share a little bit about my time inside and about practicing herbalism in prison and kind of give this prisoner's herbal context.

And then I talk about kind of like recovery really from prison and like healing from incarceration, healing from PTSD.

There's content in there about like herbal support for nightmares.

And then there's this kind of like yeah, like, more content, I guess, for people, like, on the outside.

So, like, how it feels to be engaged in, like, long term prisoner support, whether that's for comrades or whether that's for your best friends or your partner, you know.

I've got resources there about herbs for prison visits, for after phone calls, for grief, anger and rage.

And then, yeah, there's kind of other contributions and other recipes and stuff in that section.

And, yeah, I just want to say, like, I think the healing From Incarceration article is, like, maybe one of the most challenging ones to write.

Like, it is quite in depth about those first few Kind of like survival stages when you first get out of prison and then this kind of longer term navigation of like how the hell do you process like that much like trauma, right?

Or especially if people have done a long sentence like how do you, you know, live differently like after seeing things that humans shouldn't see, for example.

So I really hope for people who have been in prison that that.

article in particular is really useful.

I'd love to hear people's feedback from it once they've read it.

Okay, and then part five is all about border violence.

So there's quite a long article kind of introducing the border regime and like the different, I'm not going to say tentacles because Kes will tell me off, but like the different manifestations of that, whether that's detention centers or deportations or whether that's like the kind of reporting system or how people are like dispersed in terms of housing and stuff.

I also talk a little bit about other borders, like across Europe and in the US and Mexico and surveillance and yeah, all sorts of things.

And then I really kind of go into detail about the clinic.

So there's an interview there with my friend Victor, who I did a podcast interview on the show with about the clinic and how it works and what's been happening.

And then I've written a kind of like, longer piece about like, top tips for like, organizing a clinic.

So, you know, I have a lot of people contact me like, expressing interest in getting involved or expressing interest in doing something similar.

And I've just kind of like, put in like, half a decades of experience into that article of like, I think you need to think about this, this and this, and I wish we'd done this, this and this.

And, you know, it's very, like, personal, like, I haven't written that piece with other people in the clinic, if that makes sense, but it's like a summary of my experiences kind of doing the work and talking about it with people and all our debriefs and stuff like that.

So I hope that'll be really useful for people and it just would mean the world to me, like, if this book did kind of act as a catalyst for people to start like similar projects at different kind of border hotspots.

And then I've shared a bunch of the kind of remedies and recipes that we use from the clinic in Calais.

So things like our cough syrup, chest rubs, immune tonic, bruise ointments, like our different sprays for wounds and things like scabies and stuff.

And then just like other things we use in our clinic, again, with the thinking that.

If you were going to start the same thing, this would be, like, really, really helpful for you.

And then I've got some other kind of examples of herbal solidarity in practice, supporting, like, displaced people and supporting asylum seekers in Ireland, for example.

Again, I would have loved to have had, like, more variety in that section.

Like, I would love to have had some interviews with people, like, working on the border in Mexico, for example.

But you know, it is what it is.

And there's like tons of content in there.

And like, you know, like the whole point of this book is to have this like, variety of content that meets people need meets people's needs, like whether that's you're looking for like specific recipe that you can kind of repeat and use like in your project, or your herbal practice, or whether that's you just want to understand like the kind of border regime better or you just want to like, you know, maybe start a project but you don't know where to start.

Like, I just hope that these different kind of threads of this book will be useful.

And then part six is focusing on like genocide, occupation and war.

So I've got like a piece about plant medicines in a war context.

So I look at kind of how plants have been used through history really in different, in different kind of Like war zones and like medical context.

And then I share, like, about Ukraine herbal solidarity and that's like literally just my perspective on that project and what happened and my feelings about it.

It's not anything that has been written kind of collectively, like I made that clear at the start of that piece.

But I think, again, it would be really interesting to people that want to do potentially something similar or hopefully will feel inspired about, like, what is possible.

And I talk about, like, the nuances of, like, you know, very long term.

projects like our clinic in Calais versus like short term responses to like, you know, for example, the genocidal invasion of Ukraine.

And yeah, you know, just the fact that like herbal solidarity can look really different.

Like it can look like I've made like six care packages for local refugee women like living in my local town and for those people like it feels amazing that they've got Like body oils and bath oils and like foot care cream or it could look like i'm starting a project on the border that I'm going to dedicate the next 20 years to like, you know, there's just like so many options About how we can use like herbal medicine and practice to support people And organize, you know against oppression and challenge the state and yeah, be engaged in that kind of active mutual aid work.

So I also talk about Palestine in that section and there's a recipe for lavender oil which I mean I talk about loads but I'm such a lavender oil drug dealer.

It's just.

like the best thing ever.

So yeah, how to make that.

And then we've got a really beautiful contribution about herbal remedies like rooted in ancestral Armenian practices and talking about the genocide there.

So again, yeah, like I would have loved to have had more content in that section.

You know, obviously there's lots of different contexts of genocide and occupation and war around the world and again, like, I write in the introduction to that section that it really is just like, you know, asking questions, like, more than anything, like, what is the role of herbalism in self defense?

Like, what is the role of herbalism in combat situations?

Like, you know, how can we optimize, like, local grassroots?

medical infrastructure and build that infrastructure now, you know, and do we have to wait for like high intensity conflict with mass death?

Like what about, you know, the state's war on people, you know, like poverty and, you know, policies that are killing people.

And you know, just like capitalism.

So yeah, anyway, there's lots of questions.

Like the whole thing is just like a big, like, yo, Herbalist, what are we doing?

Like, how can we do more of this?

You know, what's the role in plant medicines in this context?

Like it's, you know, it's all the things that have been like buzzing around in my head for 15 years.

Okay, and then part seven is kind of like a planti section.

So I've shared 10 different plants that are kind of like frequently referenced through the book.

Everything from betony to vervain and yeah.

They're kind of just like for people, if you're using these plants to, if you're working with these plants to kind of know a little bit more about them, like some of the other indications or contraindications.

Yeah, just kind of, you know, some of the kind of herbs in our sort of like Nervine Materia Medica.

So, you know, Nervines are herbs with an affinity for the nervous system.

So I've tried to include different ones in there, like cardiac Nervines and Nervine Relaxants and some Nervotonics and things.

And then there's a conclusion called Plants as Comrades Against and Beyond the State, where I just am like going on a very passionate rant about the role of plant medicines and yeah, moving towards a world without the state, without this kind of organized hierarchical violence that determines our lives.

So yeah, my anarchist readers will enjoy that piece.

And then part eight is all kind of resources, so things on like medicine making basics, harvesting and drying, there's like a comprehensive glossary, and then there's just like several pages about.

You know, the Solidarity Apothecary and stuff and Kes's work and a big index, which I did manually, which is so much work, but I do think indexes are great for books like I use them frequently.

And I want people to be able to like jump around the book, you know, like it's not like some really intense kind of novel that you have to read from front to back.

It's really like a reference book where you can go where your kind of inspiration takes you where your needs take you So yeah, that is it.

Like I said, it is a beast.

It's 444 pages It's not like summarizing my life's work, but it is like a real milestone I think for the solidarity apothecary and my work in the world and trying to like bridge these connections You know, like I talk in the introduction about how you know, I want Anarchists and people engaged in social struggle to kind of, like, have less prejudice, to be honest, about herbal medicine and see the kind of importance of things like collective care and sustaining our movements and taking care of each other so that we can, you know, keep resisting the state and, you know, not treating each other like disposable.

And then I also hope with the other angle that inspires Herbalist to think like, you know, how can I organize in my community and my networks to support people who are experiencing, you know, the most kind of oppression and marginalization.

And, you know, because like the herbal kind of scene, at least in the UK, like can be very privileged, right?

Very white, very middle class.

And I think like this book is hopefully something, you know, like a dandelion pushing up the concrete.

It can be similar in terms of.

being like, hey, like, herbalism can be revolutionary, you know, like, it can be liberatory, like, we can work with these amazing plants to support people to push back against forms of oppression and repression, like, we can, you know, like, not just take care of our bodies in this real, like, individualistic wellness culture way, but in a way that's like, deeply caring about our communities and, you know, what people are experiencing.

And a lot of state violence is very invisibilized, you know, like vast numbers of people in prison being affected by the prison system, super invisibilized, like what happens in Calais, like super invisible to most people.

Most people going through some form of political oppression are generally very alienated and kind of lonely in those experiences.

So I just, yeah, I want to kind of bring all those forms of state violence to light.

And I want to kind of inspire people to think about how we can support folks and how hubs can be this tool.

Because, you know, we all If you're listening to this, I'm sure you love plant medicines and sure you don't need me to say it, talk about it, but they are just amazing, right?

And it's been such a joy and an honor to be able to share some of their medicine, like, via these words and via this book.

So yeah, I hope you can pick up a copy.

Like I said, I'm going to be posting them out on the 20th of March and I haven't decided what to do with the copies that I don't sell because my plan is basically to close my shop for, like, physical posting of orders.

by the end of March because I just don't want to be doing it during maternity leave.

So yeah, if you want a physical copy, basically order it, order it soon, like order it in March.

Otherwise, yeah, I guess it kind of depends on how many I sell.

Like, if I have loads left, then I'll probably will have to find some other option or give them back to Active Distribution or something, but I'm really hoping I can shift as many as I can.

All the funds from the book, by the way, like obviously they'll be going to pay the cost of the printing and also some kind of debt I have with the Prisoner's Herbal Books because, you know, like the majority of the Prisoner of Herbal books go to prisoners and I don't get money for those, like sales for those so I have to find other creative fundraising ways to cover those costs and I'm grateful that Active are like super flexible and patient with me of paying back how much I owe them.

But yeah, other, you know, other kind of profit from the book will be going towards like herbal solidarity packs for people, things like that and just kind of sustaining the general costs of the solidarity apothecary and yeah, I hope post maternity leave that I'll be able to crack into action again with getting herbs out to people and supporting people one to one.

It's definitely been difficult with the kind of violent vomiting and nausea to sustain what I'm doing but yeah, I'm excited about the future and excited about this book so I hope you can support it.

I hope you can pick up a copy.

I think there's something for everyone in there.

police everyone into herbal medicine and state violence.

I mean it is such a niche right like that's what's hilarious about it is it's like really like connecting these two things but yeah they are definitely connected and yeah okay I'm gonna stop talking I hope you will pick up a copy or feel inspired to feel free to ask me any questions you can also download the contents and the first few pages of the book off my site yeah and I mean I'm also keen to donate copies to people in prison or prison family members on low incomes Things like that.

So yeah, if there's a barrier there, like, please let me know.

But otherwise, yeah, I look forward to getting it in the post to you.

Oh yeah, the other thing is, I've only got 100 copies of my Overcoming Burnout book.

So that's like the only 100 copies in the world that are like physically books, if that makes sense.

So if you want one of them before they run out, then please order them ASAP as well.

They are £5.

Yeah, okay.

I'm gonna have a rest now, feeling very, very, very pregnant.

But yeah, thank you for listening and I'm gonna publish an episode later this week or early next week with another herbalist who's engaged in solidarity medicine making, so keep a lookout for that.

Okay, thanks.

Take care.

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the show at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast.