“There is power in ancestral memory and ancestral veneration… I feel tied to the ancestors, known and unknown, and the faith that sustained their lives. I feel comforted in the knowledge that there are ancestors, not even related to me by blood, who have walked the path I am now walking. I believe that my name is on an ancestor’s lips—that even now, someone who has gone before is praying for me and on my behalf. I believe that I have inherited their stories and their songs and that I am obliged to share them with the next generation. These beliefs bring me comfort and joy.”

from In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit (p. 159)