This is a living list of books, essays, media, podcasts, and community resources that have informed Ancestors in Training. We invite you to browse this list over time and circle back to what you are drawn to. For folks who have circled with us for some time, this library is the basis for what was originally called the AIT Syllabus.

Books

Shop the Ancestors in Training Book List

• Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer

• An Indigenous People’s History of the United States — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• Jambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals — Luisah Teish

• The Spirit of Intimacy: Ancient African Teachings in the Ways of Relationships — Sobonfu Somé

• Of Water and the Spirit — Malidoma Patrice Somé

• Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens: The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions — Lilith Dorsey

• Kindred — Octavia Butler

• Teaching to Transgress — bell hooks

• My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies — Resmaa Menakem

• The Alchemist — Paulo Coelho

• The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria — Dr. Marta Moreno Vega

• The Salt Eaters — Toni Cade Bambara

• The Toltec Art of Life and Death — don Miguel Ruiz

• Communing With Your Ancestors — Raven Grimassi

• Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing — Michele Elizabeth Lee

• Honoring Your Ancestors: A Guide to Ancestral Veneration — Mallorie Vaudoise

• The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism — Karen M. Rose

• Isese Spirituality Workbook: The Ancestral Wisdom of the Ifa Orisa Tradition — Ayele Kumari, PhD

• Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism, and Mothering — Rosemarie Freeney Harding with Rachel Elizabeth Harding

• Black Imagination — Natasha Marin

• A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignty — Noelani Goodyear-Kaopua, Ikaika Hussey, Erin Kahunawaika’ala Wright

• Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype — Clarissa Pinkola Estés

• Brujas: The Magic and Power of Witches of Color — Lorraine Monteagut, PhD

• Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice — Jennifer Mullan, PsyD

• The Book of Juju — Juju Bae

Articles & Essays

• Ancestor in Training 101 — Veronica Agard

• Are you ready to become your descendants wildest dreams? Ancestors in Training shows you how — Jonece Starr Dunigan

• What is Ancestor Veneration & Why is it Necessary for the Wellbeing of African & Indigenous People? — Omikunle Ekundayo / Soulcare Collective

• Who Are People Of Color? — Tamanna Syed

• That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief — Scott Berinato

• Mapping Our Social Change Roles in Times of Crisis — Deepa Iyer

• High Holy Days in Pandemic Times: Finding Awe in the Unravel — Dori Midnight

• We Have Never Done This Before: 5 Trauma Responses in the Time of Coronavirus — Dayanara Marte

• A Not-So-Brief Personal History of the Healing Justice Movement, 2010–2016 — Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

• The Weight in Being Well: The Salt Eaters and the Genius of Toni Cade Bambara — Joel Diaz & Steven G. Fullwood

• The Future of Healing: Shifting From Trauma-Informed Care to Healing-Centered Engagement — Shawn Ginwright

• Abolition Culture: Moving Beyond Disposability in the Movement — Janaya Khan

• We Need to Focus on Black Joy Just as Much as Black Liberation — Veronica Agard

• The New-Age to Alt-Right Pipeline — Caitlin Mason

• Communities of Care for Liberation — Yashna Maya Padamsee

• Epigenetics and International Trauma — Sonya Joseph

• Remembering Goddess Aja to Heal Ecological Heartbreak — Princella Talley

• Healing Justice Lineages: Disrupting the Medical-Industrial Complex — Nonprofit Quarterly

• The Indigenous forager reconnecting Native Americans with their roots — The Guardian

• Who Is a Settler, According to Indigenous and Black Scholars — VICE

• How We Heal in Circle: African-centered Healing Circle Practices — Evan Auguste & Veronica Agard

• How We Heal in Circle: What Comes After Healing? — Evan Auguste & Veronica Agard

From the archives

Ancestors in Training 2018 series, in partnership with the Caribbean Cultural Center

1. Writing the Future - Full Recording

2. The Dancefloor as Sacred Space - Full Recording

3. Queering Divinity - Full Recording

Multimedia

• Native Land Digital (Explore Indigenous territories, languages, and treaties; use as a starting point rather than a sole authority.)

• Ancestors in Training Playlist — Vol. 1

• Ancestors in Training Playlist — Vol. 2

• Ancestors in Training Playlist — Vol. 3

• Ôrí — starring and written by Maria Beatriz Nascimento

• Meditations Across The King’s River — James Weeks

• Yemanjá the Film: Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil

• For the Next 7 Generations — Grandmothers Council

• TEDxMaui — Becoming Great Ancestors — Carolyn Raffensperger

• In Our Mothers’ Gardens — Shantrelle P. Lewis

• A Little Juju Podcast — Juju Bae (Especially episodes 1, 21, and 68.)

• How to Be Magical Podcast — Soul Things Botanica (Especially “Put The Sage Down” and “Readings 101.”)

• Survivor’s Sanctuary — me too International

• Angie Martinez IRL Podcast — We’re All Gonna Die: Lauren London

• Ancestors in Training — Episode 90 of This Restorative Justice Life

• Becoming an Ancestor Worthy of Praise — Episode 28 of Depth Work

• Offerings Podcast — Becoming an Ancestor in Training and Spiritual Discernment in the Digital Age

• Hoodoo Plant Mamas Podcast Interview

• Confetti All Around Podcast Interview

• Intersectional Fertility Podcast Interviews (Includes Episode 70 and Episode 73.)

Vendors, Shops & Botanicas

• Ancestors in Training Store

• Sacred Vibes Apothecary

• BreadxButta

• Brooklyn Brujeria

• MINKA Brooklyn

• Self Ceremony