For 54 years, Queen Afua has been a guiding light for those seeking a path to holistic health, particularly within the Black community. Her journey is not just a professional one; it is a deep personal transformation from a chronically ill teenager to a renowned healer, author, and advocate for the power of food as medicine. Her story is one of resilience, self-discovery, a profound reckoning with the trauma of the transatlantic slave trade and a commitment to empowering others to heal themselves, culminating in her work in Ghana, a land she considers sacred.
A Teenager’s Transformation
Queen Afua’s path to healing began at the age of 16, when she was struggling with a multitude of health issues, including chronic asthma, headaches, arthritis, sleep apnea, and debilitating female disorders. “I was extremely sick, and I needed to get well,” she recalls. “I didn’t know how, I didn’t know that nature was going to heal me.”
Her turning point came during a three-day retreat in Upstate New York, where she embarked on a journey of detoxification and natural living. She eliminated processed foods, meat, dairy, and white flour products from her diet, embracing cleansing, fasting, juicing, and a connection to nature. The results were astounding. “I got rid of several diseases,” she says, “the asthma, chronic asthma gone in 12 weeks, the headaches, the arthritis, the stress levels, the sleep apnea… I didn’t know that natural healing could do it for me!”
Becoming a Healer
Inspired by her own healing, Queen Afua dedicated herself to learning more about natural medicine. She became a certified colon therapist, a yoga teacher, and a herbalist, immersing herself in the study of holistic health. “I started to teach food medicine as my specialty,” she explains.
She established a wellness center in Brooklyn called “Heal Thyself,” where she offered her expertise to a community eager to embrace a more natural lifestyle. She wrote a book also titled “Heal Thyself” and developed a product line of natural formulas, all based on her own healing journey and her deep understanding of the body’s ability to heal itself
Wellness City; A Culinary Guide to Healing
Now, after years of experience, Queen Afua is releasing a series of seven small books titled “Wellness City,” each exploring the power of food to heal. “Wellness City represents food is medicine,” she says. “What we eat can make us sick or make us well, so we actually have power to heal ourselves.”
Her books delve into the specific healing properties of various natural foods, from cucumbers that support kidney function to celery that nourishes the skin and hair. She emphasizes the importance of eating greens from the garden to repair the immune system and restore energy flow.
The Soul Food Vegan Kitchen: A Cultural Connection to Healing
One of the most exciting books in the series is “The Soul Food Vegan Kitchen,” a celebration of international soul food traditions adapted to be vegan and healthy. “Really, the soul food is the flavor that you’re familiar with in your culture, the taste, the seasonings,” she explains. “So if you can take a vegetable and depending on your seasonings, the aroma that comes out of it, the flavor, the taste, the texture, that connects you to your culture.”
This book is a testament to Queen Afua’s belief that healing is not just about physical health; it’s also about connecting. one’s cultural heritage and finding joy in the foods that nourish the soul. She encourages readers to explore their own cultural food traditions and find ways to adapt them to be healthier and more sustainable.
A Transformative Visit to the Slave Trade Castle
Queen Afua’s journey to Ghana was facilitated by Joe Mens, a renowned African artist who recognized her healing gifts and sought her expertise in wellness. He brought her to Ghana, recognizing the potential for her to connect with the land and its history. Joe Mens, having experienced her profound understanding of the body and spirit firsthand, knew that Ghana would be a catalyst for her work.
It was Joe Mens, who took her to the slave castle, but what followed was a deeply personal and solitary experience. “Joe Mens took me to the slave castle,” she recounts, “and he left me here for 2 or 3 days. I stayed at the hotel, and I went to the slave castle, and I got a lot of information. I was just left to go and walk in the slave castle, so I said, ‘Oh my people!'”
Without a tour guide, she wandered through the dungeons, absorbing the weight of history and the suffering of her ancestors.
“I saw the dungeon, and I saw the thickness of the fecal matter, it hardened, and there was no then, there’s no lights there, and food was thrown in. If you ate, you ate it, if you didn’t, you died. And some women were pregnant when they were stolen and put in there. Some women had their menstrual flow in there, and there were men in another area, the same thing.”
The horrors she witnessed, the conditions of unimaginable suffering, left an indelible mark on her soul. “My love from that, I, I don’t believe the word “fall in love”, but I began to love my people on such a high level,” she says.
The experience moved her to make a profound commitment: “No matter what they go through or how they react to me, I am going to love them to the ends of the Earth.”
She continued, painting a vivid picture of the transatlantic journey: “If someone has been beaten and raped, and I can see it, and I can see the slave ship, and then I can see the door of no turn, I saw it and how we was dropping, I think about Bob Marley, we were dropped into the bottomless pit and we see images of us, we were stacked up like sardines and chained, and then sometimes in the day we was able to come upstairs and some light and that throw water on us and disrespect us, and they take some of the women, the ones who ran the ship and they would rape the women.”
She concluded with the stark reality of the journey: “Three months of in the dungeon, three months or more on a ship to go, some went to the Caribbean, some dropped off in UK, some dropped up to the United States, and then 400 years, eight generations of more rape, more abuse, more what can I do for my people? I will do anything.”
It was in that solitude, surrounded by the ghosts of the enslaved, that her commitment to healing the Black community was solidified, fueled by a deep understanding of the trauma they had endured.
Sacred Ground in Ghana
Queen Afua’s journey has led her to Ghana, a land she considers sacred and a place of healing for Black people from the diaspora. She is currently in Ghana as a result of a “Sacred Woman” retreat, where she is sharing her knowledge and empowering others to connect with their roots and embrace their healing potential.
Queen Afua’s story is a powerful reminder that healing is possible, even in the face of chronic illness and historical trauma. Her 54 year journey from sickness to sacred ground, her profound reckoning with the legacy of the slave trade (an experience she faced alone and described with unflinching honesty), and her unwavering commitment to empowering others through holistic health and cultural connection make her a true inspiration. As she continues her work in Ghana and shares her wisdom through her books, she offers a beacon of hope for a future where everyone has the power to heal themselves and live a life of wellness, joy, and liberation.
watch full video interview of Queen Afua on:
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