Very often alternative medicine gets a bad rap in the United States, especially among the Black community. There are so many misconceptions about the practice that leaves people skeptical about whether or not it’s safe or even if it goes against their religion. Quite simply, though, alternative medicine is a form of therapy that doesn’t involve conventional medical methods. The practice includes everything from massages and herbalism to yoga and Reiki . It is also ancestrally tied to indigenous people, including Africans. Licensed acupuncturist Lindsay Fauntleroy told Blavity that it’s beyond time for Black Americans to reclaim alternative medicine.  “Alternative medicine, the energy medicine that we are bringing into the world now comes out of Black and indigenous ancient philosophy,” Fauntleroy told Blavity. “It comes out of Black and indigenous culture, and so it’s a reclaiming of something that is already ours.”