DIRT RICH COMMUNITY TEACH-IN WITH MICHELE E. LEE

Michele E. Lee is a multi-disciplinary Soul who has worked in the creative arts for 40 years as an exhibiting artist, activist, writer, curator, author, historian, cultural anthropologist, and educator. For six years, commencing in 1996, Ms. Lee documented the practice of Traditional African American healing. Starting with her own family lineage and healers who are from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Virginia, Ms. Lee branched out to locate other healers in the south and parts of the eastern seaboard, weaving in and out of several indigenous nations. This journey took her to base herself in the south and live down a dirt road in rural North Carolina for 4 years. She sought out other healers throughout the south/southeast by word of mouth and often traversed through the backwoods with them looking for medicine plants. Ms. Lee apprenticed with several of the elders who shared their practice and knowledge with her. Her book, “Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing” is the culmination of this sojourn!

Ms. Lee served as Chair of Art Against Apartheid for the San Francisco Bay Area actively involved in protesting against racism in South Africa and here on our home turf in the USA and against the growing homeless population in the 1980s to today. Currently, she works with and is a tribal member of the Afro-descendant Nation USA, which is recognized by the Organization of American States. Her work with Afro-descendant Nation USA involves national liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, repair-a-tions/restoration and creating safe thriving communities for Afro-descendants in the USA.