DR. SEBI

Alfredo Darrington Bowman (1933–2016)

WHO HE WAS

Born Alfredo Darrington Bowman on November 26, 1933, in Ilanga, Honduras. Raised by his grandmother Mama Hay, a traditional healer. Moved to the United States. By the 1960s, doctors told him he had asthma, diabetes, and impotence. In Mexico he met the herbalist Alfredo Cortez, who taught him that all disease comes from mucus. He healed himself with herbs and an alkaline plant-based diet, and devoted the rest of his life to healing others.

THE HEALER

He called his method the African Bio-Mineral Balance. He taught that food must be electric — natural, plant-based, non-hybrid — to feed the cells and keep the body's electricity alive. He founded the USHA Herbal Research Institute and the Fig Tree healing village in Honduras. He claimed his herbs and diet could reverse AIDS, cancer, diabetes, herpes, lupus, and blindness. The medical establishment called it unproven. His patients called them miracles.

THE COURT CASE

In 1988 the New York Attorney General charged him with practicing medicine without a license. In the Brooklyn Supreme Court, more than 70 former patients testified as witnesses that he had healed them. The charges were dismissed.

THE ONES HE TREATED

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes traveled all the way to his compound in Honduras to be healed. Michael Jackson, John Travolta, Eddie Murphy, and Magic Johnson all sought him out.

HOW HE DIED

May 28, 2016: arrested at the Roatán airport carrying $37,000 in cash, charged with money laundering. Held in a Honduran jail. On August 6, 2016, he died of pneumonia complications. He was 82. His family and supporters believe he was killed in custody. The questions remain.

THE ALKALINE DIET

Dr. Sebi taught there is only one disease: mucus, and it comes from what you eat. His answer was electric foods — natural, plant-based, non-hybrid. Vegetables: kale, okra, dandelion greens, cucumber, bell peppers, zucchini, and sea vegetables like sea moss, bladderwrack, nori, and dulse. Fruits: burro bananas, mangoes, papayas, soursop, dates, figs, seeded grapes, and key limes. Ancient grains: amaranth, fonio, kamut, spelt, teff, and wild rice. Nuts and seeds: walnuts, hemp seeds, Brazil nuts, and raw sesame. Herbs: burdock root, elderberry, sarsaparilla, and dandelion root. Banned: no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no processed food, no white rice, no white potatoes, no white flour, no seedless fruit, no canned food, no sugar, no alcohol, no coffee.

WHAT HE DID FOR THE PEOPLE

He healed thousands at the USHA Institute and the Fig Tree village. He taught Black and Latino communities to eat for life. He gave the knowledge away in lectures across the country. He stood up to the medical establishment in a court of law and walked out free. He never sold out. Millions follow the alkaline way today.

HOW HE HEALED PEOPLE — AND HOW THE JUDGE DISMISSED THE CASE

1987: arrested for practicing medicine without a license. October 1988: Brooklyn Supreme Court. He walked in with more than 70 former patients as witnesses, who testified under oath that his herbs and diet healed them of diseases medicine called incurable. A jury of six men and six women found him NOT GUILTY on both counts. The state could not prove he was practicing medicine. Case dismissed.

A man who said nature had already written the cure.

SOURCES —

Dr. Sebi's official site — his life and healing philosophy: https://drsebis.com/pages/drsebi 

Dr. Sebi's Cell Food — what to eat in a day on the alkaline diet: https://drsebis.com/blogs/journal/what-to-eat-in-a-day-dr-sebi-alkaline-diet 

New York Amsterdam News, October 1, 1988 — "Herbalist found not guilty in 'fake' healing case": https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ytrcbWp4Q6CEkWjdCS-uCOVaCJJ59FuhDODq-9Tvdc/mobilebasic?hl=en&usp=embed_facebook 

Fact-check on the 1988 New York trial outcome: https://factually.co/fact-checks/justice/dr-sebi-1988-new-york-trial-outcome-b4723d 

Journal of Pan African Studies — "Dr. Sebi: in memoriam": https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Dr.+Sebi%3a+in+memoriam.-a0491136127 

Los Angeles Sentinel — "Dr. Sebi dies in custody of Honduran jailers": https://lasentinel.net/dr-sebi-dies-in-custody-of-honduran-jailers.html 

The Source — "Dr. Sebi Dies In Police Custody In Honduras": https://thesource.com/2016/08/08/dr-sebi-dies-in-police-custody-in-honduras/ 

The Source — "Remembering Dr. Sebi 3 Years Later": https://thesource.com/2019/08/06/remembering-dr-sebi-3-years-later/ 

Face2Face Africa — "Life and death of Dr Sebi, the celebrity healer": https://face2faceafrica.com/article/the-mysterious-life-and-death-of-dr-sebi-the-celebrity-healer-who-claims-to-cure-aids 

All That's Interesting — "Dr. Sebi: The Celebrity 'Herbalist' Who Claimed To Have A Cure For AIDS": https://allthatsinteresting.com/dr-sebi