Hi everyone! As I somewhat hinted at in my previous post, a key part of the mission of HWB are my beliefs surrounding intersectional feminism. As a queer cis white woman, I am afforded a great amount of privilege in our society. As such I believe it’s my responsibility to both interrogate and dismantle the ways in which I am unknowingly complicit in a system of white supremacy– something that sadly remains prevalent within the “spiritual” community.
I believe one way of doing this is to actively elevate BIPOC voices, and so when I read the incredible Rachel Ricketts‘ recent instagram post about the appropriation of words/languages, I knew I had to share… and that I had f#¢ked up!
Per Ms. Ricketts:
“I would encourage everyone using this word to think about how your brand name causes harm to Indigenous peoples, and how + whether Indigenous people are a part of the community you are trying to build.
“You’re not entitled to use whatever words you want to however you wish. White supremacy has afforded white folx the privilege of believing they can + should use whatever language they choose but your co-opting of words from the marginalized is oppressive. Sticks + stones can break my bones and words will absolutely hurt me.
“Know better AND do better.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
With this in mind, I want to address my appropriation of the word “Bruja” in the naming of my shea butter and calendula body balm– it has been renamed “Queen Mab.” It was never my intention to perpetuate cultural erasure, instead to honor and celebrate, but the impact remained the same, and it was something I should have considered beforehand.
Hedge Witch Botanicals is, at its core, committed to active anti-racism and intersectional feminism, and to all the powerful brujas and brujos out there: I see you, I hear you, I’m sorry.
xo,
