Co-curator, cOMMUNITY STEWARD
Ayling Zulema Dominguez is a poet, mixed media artist, and youth arts educator with roots in Puebla, México and Santiago de los Caballeros, República Dominicana. Grounded in a poetics of anticolonialism, their art and writing ask who we are at our most free, and explore the subversions and imaginings needed in order to arrive there. Their collages juxtapose images of the body with that of structural injustice to prompt critical interrogation of our current systems of punishment disguised as justice. Ancestral veneration, Indigenous Futurisms, and communing with the archive are major themes in Ayling’s writing. What can language do for our rebellions and resistance efforts? How can we use it to birth new worlds and weave our ancestors into the fabric of them? What to do with all this rage and sorrow and joy, all this inheritance? Ultimately, Ayling believes in poetry as a tool for liberation.
co-CURATOR, FOUNDER
Veronica Agard (Ifáṣadùn Fásanmí) (she/her) is a poet, writer, abọ̀rìṣà, community educator, and connector at the intersections of Black identity, wellness, representation, and culture. She curated the Who Heals the Healer series and the conference of the same name and facilitates the Ancestors in Training educational project. Her initiatives are housed in her freelance platform, Vera Icon, LLC.
Through archival research at the Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamerica (CIRMA), she completed her undergraduate thesis on the complex histories of sexual assault and violence against women in post-conflict Guatemala. In 2014, she graduated from CUNY City College of New York with a BA in international studies and history and continued her community work as a co-founder of Sister Circle Collective, a role she held for five years.
She is invested in cultures of healing, experiments with creative healing modalities, and puts theories learned into practice. This came to life during the first generation of the Reparations: Black Wellness Clinic, a free healing clinic for and by Black people that was housed at Earth Arts Center and continues with metaDEN. Building on her community work, she served as a college advisor for three generations of Black and Brown youth in Brooklyn and taught at the Summer Institute of the Sadie Nash Leadership Project. In addition, she was a contributing editor at Your Magic, a podcast and digital community, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Development of Human Arts. No matter the role, Veronica offers her expressions and time to amplify the voices of those that walk with her.
As a creative, Veronica’s words have been featured at The Grio, Let Your Voice Be Heard, Mic, For Harriet, Black Girl Magik, Life as Ceremony, Black + Well, Redefining Our, and Heritage Journal. Her work has been profiled at Loca Vibes Radio, Black Abundance BK, eres.you, The Glam Femme, NFLUX Magazine, Self Ceremony, Black Joy by Reckon, Connecting Through Circles, and podcasts such as the Bushwick Podcast, Take Nothing When I Die, This Restorative Justice Life, DEPTH work, Hoodoo Plant Mamas, Offerings, Confetti All Around, and Intersectionality Fertility. She is a recipient of the Spring 2022 Reclamation Ventures Grant award for Healing Practices for Grief. With every opportunity, she names the power of storytelling and being believed in.
Described as living in the future - Veronica is guided by the past and carries out her dreams in the present.
SPIRIT OF RECIPROCITY INTERN, SUMMER/FALL 2023
Vanessa Gonzalez (she/her) is a dedicated and passionate individual with a strong interest in public and global health, social justice, community advocacy, and healthcare innovation. With a background in biology and community care, she is enthusiastic for learning, understanding, and analyzing the significance of critical race theory and its significant position in Western civilization.
Vanessa worked with Elmhurst Community Partnership, a non-profit organization serving the Latinx population in Queens. She managed a food pantry in the heavily affected Corona area, overseeing volunteer training, health and safety protocols, and COVID-19 prevention education.
Vanessa also organized online seminars featuring healthcare specialists who addressed the community's specific needs, highlighting the importance of immunization and promoting community participation. These transformative experiences deepened her interest in public health, social justice, and community care which motivated her to seek hands-on learning opportunities with professionals in these fields.
Vanessa comes from a Colombian background where socioeconomic status is deeply ingrained in the culture. She has witnessed the inequality and discrimination faced by non-White individuals, which has fueled her curiosity to learn more. Additionally, she has seen her family members experience limited access to health services due to socioeconomic status, geographic barriers, and other factors. She saw the disadvantage faced by her own family members in comparison to others; she observed the power between private and public medical insurance. Her spark for global health and social justice immersed with these experiences.
Vanessa acknowledges the vital role healthcare access, quality education, economic stability, environmental conditions, and social factors have on one’s overall well-being. This recognition has driven her to want to learn more about discriminatory behaviors to understand their impact on the present and future. She has a desire to comprehend how past practices can influence the future and what this means for our wellbeing. Vanessa hopes to gain a better awareness of the pressing challenges on both a global and national scale.
Ancestors in Training™ is a community-first collective that is largely sustained by volunteer-based work.
