Cadê a nossa fitoterapia tradicional brasileira? Uma escrevivência autoetnográfica sobre saberes tradicionais, racismo e colonialidades

In recent decades, public policies and initiatives have emerged in Brazil to address the growing demand for medicinal plants. However, the full achievement of these policies' objectives and the effective fulfillment of needs regarding the uses and practices of medicinal plants remain distant. This qualitative study employs autoethnography, drawing upon Conceição Evaristo's theoretical framework of escrevivência (writing from lived experience), with the aim of understanding the process of invisibilization of traditional Brazilian phytotherapy. The lead author, a Black woman, pharmacist, and granddaughter of a traditional herbalist (raizeira), utilizes her memories and experiences to reflect on the silencing and co-optation of knowledge concerning Brazilian biodiversity. The findings are presented narratively and analyzed through the lenses of decolonial theory and Black feminist thought. The analyses demonstrate that current public policies and practices in phytotherapy, while aiming to meet the demand for medicinal plants, perpetuate a hierarchical logic that subordinates traditional and popular knowledge to Western technical-scientific understandings. The manifestations of colonialities of knowledge, gender, being, and power are discussed, highlighting how racism and Western science operate in the disqualification and appropriation of this knowledge. This work proposes a path toward understanding the denial, lack of structuring, and defense of traditional Brazilian phytotherapy, and toward the decolonization of health knowledge.