Note: This was written as part of my coursework in Thanantology at Marian University.

African American Homegoing celebrations are a time of tears and laughter.  As Isiah Owens, a NYC Funeral Home Director, said, “Death and funerals have kept African Americans balanced and sane.”  The balance in Homegoing celebrations comes from the mixture of the sad acknowledgement that someone has died to the laughter and smiles that come from remembering how they lived.  Kathlena Wilson died when she was 59 and at her Homegoing service, her cousin told the story of how she traveled on a bus with him to their grandmother’s funeral.  He talked about how at every stop she was perfectly coiffed, with her eyelashes in place, and looking very stylish.  The crowd, although sad, laughed in remembrance.  Owens said that this was a tactic to “stir the people” to get them over their grief and sadness and focused on the fact that their loved one was going home. (Turner, 2013) as African Americans believed that in death the spirit of a person returned home to Africa (Smith).

For African Americans, death is not feared as much as it was something to look forward to.  For slaves, it would provide an escape from the brutality that was their life (Smith, p. LOC 218).  Even when African Americans gained freedom from physical bondage, they carried the oppression of their trauma with them as they suffered the indignities of Jim Crow laws and discrimination (Smith, p. loc 484).  Homegoing services keep African Americans sane as they provide a way for them to express their emotions in a controlled and safe environment.  The group grief and celebration within the service allows African Americans to feel the comfort of their community as they grieve and provides a reminder that their loved one was an important member of the community.  Having to face the sadness and grief of the death of a loved one, especially if that loved one died under violent circumstances, might cause a person to become unbalanced in grief, but having a support system keeps them sane and balanced.

While Homegoing services could serve as a way to help people move from sadness to a sense of celebration at someone going home, they could also serve to direct people’s emotions from uncontrolled anger to righteous indignation that could be channeled into action.  Such was the case with Emmitt Till’s funeral as his mother chose to have an open casket so that everyone could see the damage wrought to his 14 year old body.  His death was a catalyst for the civil rights movement and stirred action (Smith, p. LOC 1601).

References

Smith, S. E. (n.d.). To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors and the African American Way of Death. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Turner, C. (Director). (2013). Homegoing [Motion Picture].