A Deep-Dive Interview with Oakland Herbalist & Babaláwo Opesanwo Ifakorede
Written by DJ Hatari • Reggae Cultural Movement
INTRODUCTION: ROOTS, REMEDIES & REGGAE IN OAKLAND
Oakland is a city of contradictions—an urban landscape pulsing with concrete, yet rooted in ancestral memory; a place where murals breathe history and where plants grow defiantly from the cracks of abandoned sidewalks.
It’s here that Opesanwo Ifakorede, a 10th-generation herbalist and Babaláwo of the Yorùbá Ifa tradition, continues a lineage of healing that spans continents, centuries, and countless generations.
For Reggae Cultural Movement, I—DJ Hatari—sat down with him to explore the intersections between herbal medicine, ancestral knowledge, Ital living, African diasporic spirituality, and reggae culture.
What unfolded was a powerful conversation about balance, community, nature, and the wisdom hidden in plain sight throughout the streets of Oakland.
🌱 THE ORIGINS OF A HEALER: “I’VE BEEN DOING THIS SINCE I WAS FOUR.”
Before we officially began the interview, I reminded him I had photos of him harvesting herbs—some from gardens, some literally from cracks in buildings. He laughed gently, as if to say: that’s only the beginning.
When I asked about his journey into herbalism, he didn’t hesitate.
“I’m a 10th-generation herbalist. My grandmother taught me. My aunties, uncles, great-grandparents… everybody. I was four years old when she first sent me out to gather herbs.”
He remembers identifying fig leaves, banana peels soaking in alcohol with cloves, and other remedies his grandmother was constantly preparing.
These weren’t casual lessons. They were rites of passage—rituals of knowledge transfer that began before kindergarten.
Now almost 50, he reflects:
“I started helping people when I was around 12 or 13. But I’ve been learning plants for 46 years.”
This is not a hobby. It’s identity. It’s lineage. It’s destiny.
🌿 OAKLAND’S MEDICINAL FOREST: HEALING PLANTS GROWING EVERYWHERE
I asked what draws him specifically to identifying herbs in Oakland’s environment.
He answered with the confidence of someone who can read the landscape like scripture:
“The plants that grow around you are the most potent for you. They share your environment.”
He named herbs I had walked past all my life without truly seeing them:
Local Oakland Herbs (Growing in Sidewalks, Yards & Hills)
- Ewe Falaje (Leaf of Life / Miracle Leaf) — nerve damage, circulation, wound healing, scalp & skin
- Purslane (Eliaje / Oejiu) — omega-3s, reproductive health, anti-inflammatory
- Wandering Trad (a.k.a. Inch Plant) — powerful blood purifier
- California Bay Laurel — antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, calming
- Wild Chamomile — calming, digestive
- Cleavers — lymphatic system
- Yarrow — wound care, fever
- Magnolia — support for emotional balance & addiction
- Ginkgo Biloba — memory & oxygenation
He gestured to the photos I had taken earlier—herbs thriving beside broken concrete.
“People don’t realize how much medicine grows all around them. In the flats, the hills, downtown… everywhere.”
One of his favorites is Ewe Falaje, which grows abundantly in Oakland but is also a traditional herb of Nigeria.
“It’s one of the most powerful herbs you can find. For nerves. For skin. For circulation. For spiritual grounding.”
He must have said it ten times:
“Oakland is abundant.”
🌍 AFRICAN HERBALISM & ETHICAL SOURCING: TRADITION MEETS RESPONSIBILITY
Herbalism for Opesanwo is not just botany—it’s culture, spirituality, and ethics.
As a Babaláwo of 19 years, his relationship with herbs is guided by Ifa cosmology.
“Herbs from Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso—those are harvested responsibly. No monocropping. No overharvesting. Only what’s needed.”
He contrasted this with commercial herbal industries:
“A plant is not just something to take. It’s part of the environment. You never pull up a plant by the root unless it regenerates easily.”
He blends African herbs with Oakland’s local plants—creating remedies that honor both traditions.
Food, he reminds us, is also medicine:
“Anything you eat from another land, you blend with what grows where you live. That’s how you create harmony in your body.”
Harmony is a recurrent theme—spiritual harmony, environmental harmony, cultural harmony.
🎶 HERBALISM & REGGAE: A SHARED PHILOSOPHY OF BALANCE
When asked how herbalism intersects with reggae culture, he went deep.
“Reggae comes from Africa—before Jamaica, before Rasta, before anything modern. The message is balance. Harmony. Justice.”
He explained the connections between Yoruba, Igbo, and Akan traditions across the Caribbean.
Rastafari, Ital living, and African spirituality share core values:
Shared Principles
- Natural living
- Respecting the earth
- Balance with environment
- Community upliftment
- Connection to ancestors
- Justice & good character
- Emphasis on spirit over materialism
He emphasized that herbalism is not just physical:
“Plants heal mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Even plants in your apartment filter negativity.”
Reggae, he says, is not about smoking herb. It’s about living in harmony.
💚 HERBS FOR MIND, SPIRIT & EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
He explained the deeper spiritual dimensions of herbalism:
“An herb isn’t just what you drink. It’s the air you breathe. The energy in your home. The balance it brings to your environment.”
Even “weeds” growing on fences, roofs, or sidewalks serve a function.
He spoke of herbs like Ewe Falaje and Oemi Esu as tools not only for:
- wound healing
- nerves
- kidneys
- digestion
but also for:
- dream protection
- emotional cleansing
- spiritual grounding
This is herbalism woven with cosmology.
🌿 AFRICAN HERBS WITH EXTRAORDINARY POWER
We shifted to specifics.
Ewe Falaje (Miracle Leaf / Leaf of Life)
Used for:
- nerve damage
- circulation
- scalp, hair, skin
- wound care
- emotional grounding
- spiritual strength
Used as tea, oil infusion, bath, or topical salve.
Ewe Aje
Used for:
- reproductive health
- omega-3 support
- digestion
- pregnancy support
- antioxidant therapy
Ewe Imi Esu
Used for:
- deep sleep
- anxiety relief
- fever reduction
- kidney infections
- spiritual protection
- wound care
- emotional calming
He described how he healed a severe bicycle injury using these herbs—boiling them, bathing with them, drinking the infusion.
“Herbs are powerful. But you must know how to use them. That’s why proper guidance is important.”
👥 COMMUNITY, CLASSES & SHARING KNOWLEDGE
When I asked how he educates the community, his answer was as expansive as the herbs he teaches:
- Foraging walks in the Oakland hills
- Urban plant identification classes
- Online herb workshops
- One-on-one herbal consultations
- Ifa divination & spiritual healing
- Custom herbal formulas
He emphasized repeatedly:
“You don’t need money to be healthy. Nature gives freely. You just need knowledge.”
His biggest challenge?
“Not the environment. The herbs are plentiful. The challenge is awareness—helping people understand the abundance around them.”
He even does guerrilla gardening—planting seeds secretly so communities stumble upon medicine growing beside them.
🌄 THE FUTURE: A HEALTHIER, MORE CONSCIOUS OAKLAND
When asked about his vision, he spoke with the conviction of someone who sees long-term:
“I want people to know what they have. Fennel grows wild. Plantain grows everywhere. Lamb’s ear, bay leaf, cleavers… Oakland is overflowing with medicine.”
His deeper message:
“Power is not domination. Power is helping self and others. Wisdom, justice, good character—those are the pillars.”
He envisions more youth learning herbs, more community healing, and more collaboration between cultural movements—especially reggae, which carries a message of upliftment.
🤝 OPESANWO & REGGAE CULTURAL MOVEMENT: BUILDING TOGETHER
As Reggae Cultural Movement, we see his work as essential to community upliftment.
We discussed future collaborations:
- reggae pop-up healing sessions
- herb education booths at RCM events
- community workshops
- continuing article series
- cultural bridges between herbalism and reggae
“We can’t cover every herb,” he joked, “there are too many.”
But this article is the beginning of a long partnership.
✨ FINAL WISDOM: DEFINING HOLISTIC REGGAE
Before closing, I asked him:
“If you could distill the essence of holistic reggae into one piece of advice, what would it be?”
He didn’t hesitate.
“Seek harmonious balance—with yourself, with your community, with nature. Healing comes when everything is in alignment.”
That message sits at the heart of both reggae and herbalism.
It is also the heart of this article.
🌿 About Opesanwo Ifakorede
10th-Generation Herbalist • Babaláwo • Oakland Native
Rooted in West African (Yorùbá/Ifa) traditions, Opesanwo carries over four decades of ancestral herbal knowledge.
He provides:
- herbal consultations
- custom herbal formulas
- spiritual guidance
- foraging walks
- community classes
- ancestral healing work
Contact Opesanwo
🌿 Website: https://afroherbnapothecary.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afroherbnapothacary_shop
📧 Email: afroherbnapothecary@gmail.com
📞 Phone: (510) 239-8794
He teaches that healing begins with harmony — with the land, with self, and with community.
