Video Podcast: In the Hands of the Revolutionaries and Communities: A Social History of Acupuncture

Research Talks Series, Fall 2020

Speaker: Eana Meng, MPhil Student, University of Cambridge, UK 

Produced by the Harvard University Asia Center

Trailer to In the Hands of the Revolutionaries and Communities: A Social History of Acupuncture

Black Revolutionaries and Acupuncture? A History of Integrative Medicine

First part of the two-part series

A note from the speaker: A previous version of this video was uploaded recently but upon wider feedback, I realized that the name “The Black Panther Party and Acupuncture?” was misleading if a viewer did not watch the video in full. While Drs. Small and Shakur did work with the Panther Party, neither were ever formal members and thus only indirectly connected. With many varying accounts of this history, it is important that this video did not contribute to and perpetuate any misunderstanding. As for the definition of “revolutionary,” I take Dr. Small’s definition, which is “people that wanted to change society for the better.”

“It’s First Aid!”: Tracing the Global Transmission of a Five-Point Ear Acupuncture Treatment

Part 2 of the two-part series 

Bio: Eana Meng is a historian of medicine and a physician in training. Her research has traced the lesser known histories of the use of acupuncture by American activists (including those in the Black revolutionary movement) since the 1970s and the legacies that emerge from them, which include a five point ear acupuncture protocol currently used around the world for substance use and behavior health conditions. She is interested in the histories that sit at the intersection of radical politics of health, integrative/alternative healing modalities, community healthcare, the opioid crisis and pain, and crucial dimensions of race, gender, and class. She runs a blog at https://www.ofpartandparcel.com/.