She Survived What Medicine Abando...

She Survived What Medicine Abandoned

Return to Presence with Dr. Shawna by Shawna Murray-Browne, Ph.D., LCSW-C

Episode notes

Season 1: Episode 2 Summary

Pleasant Harrison was told by her doctor that she wouldn't survive her cancer diagnosis. With no meaningful care offered, she turned to what her grandfather had taught her—herbal medicine, ancestral healing practices, prayer, and the land itself. She survived by trusting what her ancestors had already placed in her hands.

In this episode, we explore what Pleasant's story reveals about medical racism, medical neglect of Black women, and the ongoing Black maternal health crisis. I share my own maternal health story—navigating NICU trauma, being dismissed by physicians, and learning to trust my body's intuition when institutions failed me.

Pleasant's life illuminates the power of ancestral medicine, herbalism, sp ... 

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Keywords
women's healthoral historyBlack womenleadershipancestral historyBlack HistoryMedical racismMaternal HealthHerbalismHealingCancer survival storiesReligionPrayer SpiritualityNICU TraumaAncestral MedicineIntuition