Dr. Shanice Baquet
Dr. Shanice Baquet is a board certified holistic wellness practitioner, master herbalist, educator, birthworker, energy healer, and community health advocate dedicated to helping individuals and families reconnect with traditional, natural, and holistic wellness approaches.
As the Founder of Mommy’s Beautiful Sunrise Inc., Aja Healing LLC, and Co-Founder of Aja Healing & Masika Health Wellness Clinic, Dr. Baquet develops educational and wellness programs centered around herbal medicine, nutrition, spiritual wellness, reproductive health, maternal and infant support, and community empowerment.
Her experience includes working within Western medical settings, where she gained valuable insight into patient care, healthcare systems, and the importance of compassionate, culturally conscious support. She brings this experience together with traditional herbal knowledge, botanical wellness, spiritual practices, and functional approaches to health education.
Dr. Baquet is passionate about teaching people to better understand their bodies, grow and use plants responsibly, prepare traditional herbal remedies, and recognize food, nature, and ancestral knowledge as meaningful components of wellness. Through her community work, she also focuses on youth education, supporting individuals with special needs, healthy birth, grieving families, maternal health, and creating accessible wellness opportunities within the community.
Her philosophy is rooted in education, empowerment, tradition, and self-knowledge. She believes that when people understand their bodies, learn from one another, and honor the wisdom passed down through generations and ancestors, they become better equipped to advocate for themselves, their families, and their communities.
At the heart of Dr. Baquet’s work is a simple but powerful belief: knowledge should be shared, wellness should be accessible, and communities become stronger when their people pour back into one another. She believes deeply in this work because her mentors poured into her from the age of twelve, teaching her how to grow food and herbs, understand that food is medicine, and reconnect with the wisdom and healing practices of our roots. They taught her to keep learning and that knowledge is meant to be shared, not kept for oneself.
Now, she carries that same responsibility forward by pouring back into the community, just as her mentors did for her. Her work is rooted in honoring what was passed down, teaching the next generation, and creating opportunities for families to reconnect with food, healing, culture, and the land.
Throughout her life, Dr. Baquet has drawn inspiration from many leaders, educators, and community builders. Two influences that have deeply shaped her philosophy are Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party. As a teenager, she was introduced to teachings centered around knowledge, self-determination, education, community responsibility, and understanding the power within our own people. Those teachings stayed with her and have continued to evolve throughout her life and work.
2 quotes she loves
“The most important thing is to get the people to understand that they have the power.” - Malcolm X
“We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self.” - Black Panther Party, Ten-Point Program
Dr. Baquet carries these principles into her work by encouraging people to learn, teach, build, and invest in one another. She believes knowledge is most powerful when shared and that the wisdom we gain should not stop with us; it should be passed forward to our children.
“When we share knowledge, develop our skills, honor our traditions, teach our children, and invest in our own people, we create stronger families, stronger communities, and a stronger future for generations to come.”
Virtual | Breakout
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
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Facilitated By: Dr. Shanice Baquet & Dr. Lakeeta Watts
Audience: Open to Everyone
Returning to Our Roots: Healing the Body Naturally
This session will explore how our ancestors cared for their bodies through food, herbs, movement, rest, community, traditional practices, and connection with nature before many modern healthcare systems and manufactured products became the primary approaches to wellness.
Areas of Exploration:
Herbal traditions — learning how plants have traditionally been used for everyday wellness.
Food as nourishment — understanding traditional foods, preparation methods, and seasonal eating.
Growing our own medicine — gardens, medicinal plants, foraging, and learning where our food comes from.
Traditional bodywork — massage, acupressure, laying of hands, baths, steam, and other cultural practices.
Mind-body connection — breathwork, meditation, movement, sound, and emotional wellness.
Ancestral knowledge — preserving wisdom passed down through families and communities.
Traditional birth and postpartum care — honoring the knowledge of birthworkers, midwives, mothers, and elders.
Community healing — remembering that wellness was often supported collectively rather than individually.
Traditional knowledge + modern understanding — teaching students to respect traditional practices while also understanding safety, evidence, contraindications, and when professional medical care is necessary.