There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Dr. Sebi (Alfredo Bowman), who died of pneumonia in 2016 while he was jailed on charges of money laundering. But much of that controversy isn’t just about his claims to have healed AIDS, cancer, and other human diseases. His family has also been locked in a controversy over who is selling his genuine products. Sebi just came back into the national spotlight after the horrific shooting death of Nipsey Hussle while he was working on a documentary about Sebi. Here is what you need to know about Sebi’s children.
1. Dr. Sebi Has 17 Children & Some of Them Are Selling Competing Products Based on His Formula
YouTube
Dr. Sebi had 17 children, according to The Root. He once claimed that he was able to have a baby at the age of 80 because of his herbal products.
Among his children is a 16-year-old son Victor and a five-year-old daughter, according to Saama Bowman, one of his daughters.
2. Saama Bowman Helps Oversee Dr. Sebi’s LA Office & Overseas the Usha Village in Honduras
Dr. Sebi’s daughter Saama Bowman has stated her public support for the Dr. Sebi LA office. She said in the interview above that the LA office was not infiltrated at all. “Those people that are working there are people my dad hired since 2014. She said no one outside the family had taken control of the company, despite what some rumors had implied. She said the person managing the office, Jenny, was one of the people her dad hired after the office was temporarily compromised. She said Jenny helped grow the business after she was hired.
Bowman then said that the only authentic, original products were those sold by the LA office, called Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food. This business works with the Usha Village in Honduras that accepts patients, the video noted, emphasizing that the authentic products were left to Saama Bowman.
According to its website, Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food is run by a student of his. There has been some controversy over which of the many businesses has Sebi’s real formula. You can see Sebi’s Cell Food site here (we’re linking to an archive because the website is down due to increased Internet attention from Hussle’s death.) According to this site’s FAQ, Pablo Medina, Dr. Sebi’s “disciple,” now runs this company. Pablo Medina was arrested at the same time as Dr. Sebi and was released from jail several months after Sebi died.
Here’s a video of Usha Village, which Saama Bowman also said she helps oversee:
This next video shows Dr. Sebi speaking at Usha Village shortly before he passed away.
Saama’s business is associated with Maa Bowman, Sebi’s first wife, according to her video interview.
3. Xave Bowman, Dr. Sibe’s Daughter, Runs Next Gen Herbal Products
Dr. Sebi’s daughter Xave Bowman runs a company called Next Gen Herbal Products. In a video from 2018, Xave spoke about a product called Seamoss. This was a product that Dr. Sibe’s grandson called out as being “inauthentic” in a video at the end of this article, but Xave disagrees with that assertion. Here’s Xave talking about the product.
A post from the company’s Instagram page, written by Xave, talks about her father and how much she misses him, along with praising him for all that he taught her.
A Facebook page for USHA Healing Family tags Xave Bowman Chapman in a number of its posts, indicating she’s involved with this business in Georgia too. It’s not clear if she’s running this business too. The business’s website does not name the owners. Its Instagram page reads: “The family of Alfredo Bowman aka Doctor Sebi continue his healing work using the original herbal formulas & alkaline diet.”
According to her Facebook, Xave lives in Culver City, California.
One of Dr. Sebi’s other daughters, Jamal Bowman, is also involved with USHA Healing Family.
This next video from USHA Family shows Patsy Bowman, who refers to herself as Mrs. Sebi on social media.
Patsy Bowman runs a business called International Healing, which also claims to have Dr. Sebi’s authentic products. “According to the FAQ on the site: “Our products are as authentic as it gets. Patsy Bowman is the widow of Dr. Sebi. She has worked along side him for over 20 years. Quite naturally she knows the formula to every product Dr. Sebi has sold and has also been the one making the products while he ran the Honduras village.”
4. Usha Bowman, Dr. Sebi’s Daughter, Works Closely with Maa Bowman, His First Wife. Maa Bowman & Dr. Sebi Had Three Children Together.
Sources are conflicting on whether Dr. Sebi was still married to Maa Bowman when he died or if he was instead married to Patsy Bowman. (And still other sources, including his grandson, say he was married to a different woman.) For the purposes of this story, we’ll refer to her as his first wife.
Dr. Sebi’s first wife, Maa Bowman, is still associated with The Fig Tree, a company that she and Sebi started together many years ago. They had three children together. According to the video below, Maa helped him formulate his original product.
In this next video, Maa Bowman and Dr. Sebi’s daughter, Usha Bowman, talk about the competing family businesses and the controversies after Sebi’s death.
Usha and Maa Bowman claimed in the video above from November 2018 to have his original formula. Vegan Choice Foods, who shared the video above, is another company that sells “Dr. Sebi Approved” products. The company’s website does not mention who is running that company.
On an interesting side note, Maa Bowman was named in a consent agreement against Sebi by the New York Attorney General. It barred Ogun Herbal Research Institute, Fig Tree Products, Alfredo Bowman, Maa Bowman and their successors from claiming their products were effective against AIDS, herpes, leukemia, sickle cell anemia, lupus, or other human diseases, or selling their products as such. You can read the 1988 consent agreement here.
5. Sebi’s Grandson & Son Abdul Have Said That Only Dietary Resolutions Sells the Official Products of Sebi
Meanwhile in this video below, Sebi’s grandson says that Melba Jean Bowman is his grandfather’s only legal wife and that both Cell Food Products and International Healing Products are not selling Sebi’s authentic products.
He said that Pablo Medina worked for his grandfather and “now they’re trying to compromise our business and take it over… Now all of a sudden he calls himself a healer.” His grandson also said there was no government foul play in Sebi’s death. He also disputed Saama’s statements about the LA office being OK.
His grandson said that Dietary Resolutions’ Instagram page sold the official products.
Here’s another video from his grandson and son talking about the topic. He said if the product isn’t from him, his dad Abdul (Dr. Sebi’s third son), or his uncle Bowman Junior, it’s not authentic. Abdul Bowman said he used to do standup in California and helped his dad get contacts for his business.
You can learn more about Dietary Resolutions here.
In summary, a number of Dr. Sebi’s children all claim to have his authentic product, which was the source of many legal challenges regarding its authenticity in the United States. It’s unclear which, if any, of the companies actually do have the authentic formula.
Sebi was a Honduran herbalist and biologist who claimed to have cured everything from cancer to AIDS, but he was not a licensed medical doctor in the U.S. Sebi died at the age of 82 while he was battling pneumonia and in police custody. He had been arrested for money laundering and died on the way to the hospital in 2016.