“Some books inform you, and some accompany you. This book does the latter. Veronica Agard has written a work that’s deeply vulnerable, meets readers exactly where they are, and gently invites them toward deeper reflection and action. Readers are offered rituals, archetypes, reflections, and ancestral wayfinding practices that stay with you long after you finish the book—long enough for your descendants to notice. This is a book I will be recommending, revisiting, and carrying with me for a long time.”
—N. Oumou Sylla, LMFT, speaker and founder of Joko Wellness
“Veronica’s gift illuminates ancestral paths for current and future generations. Her work resists contemporary state repression that would dull our senses and have us forget how powerful our lineages are. My favorite part of this offering is its pedagogy—Veronica’s life journey gives us the language, ritual, and intention to see ourselves in relation to the ancestors waiting to speak with us. We are encouraged to tend to relational futures that reach beyond our lifetimes—lessons in how to love, heal, and resist across the next millennia. What an honor to be an ancestor in training.”
—Evan Auguste, PhD, editor of The Carceral State, Forensic Psychology, and Black Resistance
“For those searching for approaches to healing and transformation beyond institutionalized systems, Ancestors in Training offers both an invitation and a guide. Veronica brings nuance, care, and deep discernment to the practice of connecting with lineage, helping readers explore the relationships between ancestry, memory, identity, and collective futures. This is a book about tracing the threads between where we come from and the worlds we are trying to build.”
—Jessie Roth, former executive director of the Institute for the Development of Human Arts (IDHA), NYC
