Self-Care Culture Vultures: Why Black Women Must Reclaim Ancestral Healing
What happens when sacred traditions become trendy?
For Black women, self-care is more than a buzzword — it’s survival, resistance, and ancestral legacy. But today, we’re witnessing a disturbing shift: mainstream wellness industries are colonizing our sacred rituals, turning them into commodities while erasing their roots. In this post, I break down the silent takeover, aka self-care culture vultures, and how we reclaim what’s ours.
The Erasure of Ancestral Healing in Modern Wellness
For generations, Black communities have relied on holistic healing: plant medicine, midwifery, communal care, and spiritual rituals. These weren’t “alternative” — they were survival. But in today’s wellness landscape, those same practices are stripped of context, sold as trends, and credited to influencers with no ties to the culture or the people. Now, as we begin to awaken and reclaim our ancient roots, it’s clear that we must not only reclaim but also gatekeep our wellness modalities.
“Reclaiming our healing traditions is about more than wellness — it’s about cultural sovereignty.”
— Inspired by Sisters of the Yam by bell hooks
From Radical to Retail: The Whitewashing of Self-Care
What began as a radical act—caring for oneself in the face of systemic neglect and racism—has been diluted into scented candles and expensive yoga classes. Audre Lorde articulated the original intent, which was political. But today, self-care is too often sold as something Black women need to buy, not build. Let’s not even talk about “access” to these so-called healing or wellness spaces!
More on the whitewashing effects
More often than not, Black and brown women find that these spaces have barriers to entry in addition to being nondiverse. The reality is that such spaces are unsafe and toxic, especially in a society built on systemic oppression. You can’t heal and replenish in a space that is unsafe and full of microaggressions and all the other elements of oppression and racism. “Luxury spa” experiences, faux wokeness, etc., are harmful and reinforce white supremacy. They are often cloaked in stolen practices and modalities from other cultures. These “spaces” capitalize on the desperate need of Black and brown women seeking relief from systemic oppression.
What Culture Vultures Look Like in the Wellness World
It’s not always obvious — the language is soft, the branding is beautiful. But make no mistake: culture vultures are profiting from sacred rituals like sage burning, African dance, and Reiki without any historical or cultural accountability. The result? Black women become spectators in traditions we created. This is also true of other stolen practices from around the world (i.e., yoga, etc.).
Decolonial Self-Care: Healing Through Liberation
Decolonizing self-care means rejecting the idea that healing must look like luxury. It means returning to our roots, centering community, and prioritizing collective liberation over curated aesthetics. It’s a spiritual rebellion — one rooted in ancestral wisdom and unapologetic self-reclamation. Clearly, self-care culture vultures have an end goal that is neither liberation nor holistic health and wellbeing.
Some final thoughts on self-care culture vultures
If your self-care doesn’t reflect who you are, where you come from, and who you’re becoming, it might be time to decolonize it. When you erase the culture, self-care culture vulture behavior is the result. I also discuss more on this topic and strategic self-care for Black women in an earlier post, right here!
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