Psychedelics Are for Everyone, Not Just White People

By: Dr. Denise Renye

As I’ve written about before, if you watch the news or keep up with current research it may seem like psychedelics are an invention from the 20th century, especially because the therapeutic and Western world is seeing a renewed interest in these medicines, but that’s simply not the case. To name a few, plant-based psychedelics have been used in religious rituals of African (e.g., Bwiti), South American (e.g., Amazon), North American (e.g., Aztec), and Central American (e.g., Maya and Inca) Indigenous cultures for ages.

Nor is it true that plant medicines are for white people, despite popular depictions showing otherwise. In fact, it’s only because of Indigenous folx that the West even knows about psychedelics. Robert Gordon Wasson, an American banker and ethnomycologist, is credited with introducing the West to psychedelics. He was attracted to Mexico after learning of Spanish codexes that spoke of Aztec mushroom rituals. He made several trips to Mexico and became connected to María Sabina Magdalena García, more commonly known as María Sabina.

You can read her whole story in the blogpost I linked to but to summarize, she was used by white men for her knowledge and expertise and then cast aside. They literally profited while she died in poverty. As Keith Williams, Dr. Osiris Sinuhé González Romero, Dr. Michelle Braunstein, and Suzanne Brant write in their article, “The aptly named ‘psychedelic renaissance,’ like the European Renaissance, is made possible by colonial extractivism. We further suggest that Indigenous philosophical traditions offer alternative approaches to reorient the ‘psychedelic renaissance’ towards a more equitable future for Indigenous Peoples, psychedelic medicines, and all our relations.”

I’ve said many times there must be more recognition of the contribution Indigenous folx have made to bring these medicines to the world but the sad truth is the colonization and whitewashing haven’t ended. To this day, BIPOC are often shut out of a ceremony their ancestors used for generations. Ceremonies that their ancestors created are spaces that they are not included in. It’s similar to what is happening in the cannabis industry whereby BIPOC people were/are imprisoned for marijuana use to a higher degree than white people and now that it’s legal or decriminalized, white people are profiting from it. (For more on this, check out the Last Prisoner Project.)  

In the psychedelic space, these medicines are literally sold to financially well-off white people and, in the West, they’re portrayed as something only white people use. Again, that’s not true, and it’s extremely ironic that BIPOC aren’t being represented when they are the ones who’ve used these medicines for centuries. Here we have capitalism and white supremacy once again rearing their ugly heads. 

Whitewashing psychedelics does a great disservice to everyone involved because to quote the Aboriginal Rights group from Queensland, Australia, “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.” Or to quote the late, great Maya Angelou, “The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.”

In other words, everyone’s liberation is tied up with everyone else’s and we should all be encouraging and actively working to support BIPOC liberation and joy. I recently attended the premiere of a documentary in Oakland, CA, “A Table of Our Own,” that seeks to encourage just that and also amplify Black voices. The creators of the documentary, who also created a conference, Kufikiri Imara, Ayize Jama-Everett, and Evan Gomez-Shwartz, said they created both because:

“We’re tired of asking for a seat at someone else’s table. Because the rhetoric around people of color in psychedelic spaces has mostly been for show. Because the lasting positive impact that these medicines can have on Black communities is not being fully acknowledged. Because the biggest impediment to Black people participating in this work is not seeing Black people participating in this work. Because when Black people win, we all win. Because we will literally change the world once we’re brought back into proper relationship with the plants, animals, compounds, and communities around us.”

During the film debut, Dr. Ibrahim Farajaje-Jones’ memory was invoked through spoken word. The late Dr. Farajaje-Jones was described as a radical, queer, guerilla theologian professor, mystic, mentor, teacher, and friend who influenced the lives, hearts, and minds of those who created this film. He was one of many, many (many!) ancestors who were a part of this film and who are a part of this important focus.

I highly encourage you to watch A Table of Our Own and support their work in whatever way you can. And if you’re a BIPOC person reading this, please know there are safe spaces for you to use these sacred plant medicines and support for you to do so. I am here to do my part in connecting people and holding space in any way that is of service.

Psychedelic medicines are one tool in the toolbox to support a realignment with ourselves, our communities, and the environment so it’s vital that everyone, not just affluent white people, have access to them.

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Resources

A Table of Our Own. https://www.atableofourown.org/

The Last Prisoner Project. https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/

Williams, Keith; Sinuhé González Romero, Dr. Osiris; Braunstein, Dr. Michelle; Brant, Suzanne. “Indigenous Philosophies and the ‘Psychedelic Renaissance.’" Anthropology of Consciousness. July 30, 2022. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/anoc.12161