We Are the Daughters of Anarcha, Lucy & Betsey: Honoring Juneteenth through Womb Work and Remembrance

Some names were never meant to be forgotten.

Some pain was never meant to be buried.

And some work—womb work—was born from the blood, the breath, and the sacred survival of women whose names we must now say with reverence:

Anarcha. Lucy. Betsey.

This Juneteenth, I don’t just celebrate freedom—I remember the women whose wombs were not free. I remember the ones whose bodies were used, whose pain was dismissed, and whose spirits birthed a revolution we’re still catching up to.

The Forgotten Mothers of Gynecology

Before there were sterile exam rooms or OBGYN certifications…

Before pelvic exams became routine...

There were Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey—enslaved Black women whose bodies were used by Dr. J. Marion Sims to “perfect” surgical tools and gynecological procedures. He performed his experiments on them without anesthesia, under the false belief that Black women didn’t feel pain the same way white women did. He documented their agony, not with compassion, but as clinical detail.

And yet—they endured.

Not because they had a choice, but because they were forced. They did not consent, but they survived.

That survival is the root of womb resistance.

Womb Work is Liberation Work

When I say I’m a Womb Keeper, this is what I mean:

I keep sacred what the world tried to desecrate.

I midwife healing where there was once only harm.

I call Black women back to themselves—body, soul, and spirit.

The work I do today as a certified Yoni Steam Practitioner and holistic womb wellness advocate is not new.

It is a remembrance.

A revival.

A return to what our grandmothers knew—before their wisdom was stolen, silenced, or sanitized.

Every time I set herbs to steam,

Every time I guide a woman back to her center,

Every time I call the womb a sanctuary, I am honoring Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey.

This work is for them.

And it is for us—the daughters, the doulas, the Earth Mothers, the cycle breakers.

Juneteenth Is a Portal

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were finally informed of their freedom, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

But true liberation? That’s not found in documents. It’s found in the body. In the bloodline. In the rituals we reclaim.

Juneteenth is a call to remember:

• That healing is ancestral.

• That freedom is ongoing.

• That our wombs are holy ground, not medical subjects.

• That the work we do now restores what was never meant to be broken.

My Invitation to You

If you’re reading this, you are part of the remembering.

You are the one your grandmothers prayed for. You are the womb that says “no more suffering in silence.” You are the revolution wrapped in ritual, ready to rise.

On this Juneteenth, I invite you to:

• Light a candle in honor of Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey.

• Speak their names.

• Take care of your womb space as ceremony, not obligation.

• Join me in the sacred work of restoration over reaction.

Begin Your Return

✨ Visit @hiddenjewelboutiq to explore ritual tools and resources

✨ Sign up for our Free 3-Day Womb Keeper Journey to reconnect with your power

✨ Work with me 1:1 to reclaim your womb story with intention and reverence

Because healing isn’t just for you—it’s for your lineage.

And on this day of freedom, we rise womb-first.

For them.

For us.

For the daughters yet to come.

With reverence and fire,

Javon A, Frazier, Your Guiding Light