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Jul 26, 2023 · The funerals they hold for family members contain many elements of a typical Christian funeral but have many customs that honor their own traditions and ethnicity. While an increasing number of black people opt for cremation, most African-Americans prefer the meaningful traditions that surround a black funeral.
Integration has brought black and white society closer together, but funeral traditions remain distinctive in African American culture and are a unique, but diverse part of American culture. Guide to African-American funeral customs which often involve keening, a dramatic expression of sorrow.
- Homegoing. One of the first things you’ll notice about Christian African-American funerals is that they are called homegoings. The reason for this wording is because of the belief that deceased loved ones are going back home — home to God, peace, and freedom.
- Gathering of Friends and Family. Whether for the seven-day period of visitation prior to the funeral, the two to three-day wake, or the funeral service itself, family and friends from near and far will gather for the occasion.
- Elaborate Funeral Procession. Funerals or homegoings are purposefully elaborate, detailed affairs and this is true of the procession from the family home to the church or location of the funeral service.
- Luxury Casket. Though not every family will choose to purchase an expensive or luxury casket for their loved one, many do. African-American funerals can be lavish and this is one area where they often go all-out.
Today's Black funeral traditions blend many religious and cultural customs. With influences from Christianity and Islam to African rituals, the funeral customs of Black Americans create a celebration of faith, hope and love not found in some of the more traditional and somber Western rites .
This article examines the funeral customs of African Americans, a community that was forcibly uprooted to a new environment and way of life in the 17th century, but who eventually saw their new customs, which were born out of emotional and spiritual necessity, serve as an inspiration for what is now regarded as the African American homegoing.
A homegoing is a funeral tradition in the U.S. Black community that celebrates a loved one’s release from this life and a reunion with God. Funeral rituals are among the oldest traditions in African American culture, since enslaved people were typically able to mourn as they chose, unlike most other areas of their life.
May 23, 2022 · 4Posted by Jae Jones - May 23, 2022 - BLACK RELIGION, LATEST POSTS, RELIGION. African Americans in the south have always had traditional ways of handling funeral ceremonies and burials of loved ones. African Americans mark the final resting place of love ones in a unique way.
