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Passed on: African American Mourning Stories, a Memorial
Contributor(s): Holloway, Karla Fc (Author)
ISBN: 0822332450     ISBN-13: 9780822332459
Publisher: Duke University Press
OUR PRICE:   $25.60  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: September 2003
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Annotation: "[A] fascinating book . . . . By weaving interviews, historical accounts, and personal reflections, Holloway demonstrates how a combination of racial injustice, violence against blacks, and medical neglect has shaped black people's expected transition between this world and the afterlife. . . . [It] may help physicians today understand why some African Americans do not fully trust our present medical system."--Brian C. Reed, "Journal of the American Medical Association"


"[A] stunning portrait of African American death in the 20th century."--"Virginia Quarterly Review
""[An] engaging and, at times, heartbreaking, study of death in African American culture."--Erik Bledsoe, "ForeWord
"
"Karla Holloway writes about a central and little-explored American phenomenon with a wide and patient breadth of knowledge and a startlingly profound personal depth. It feels like a book as durable as a well-shaped stone--as reliable, useful and finally consoling, however hard to bear."--Reynolds Price


"Beginning with the tragic loss of her son, Karla Holloway poignantly examines how race not only affects the meaning of black lives, but their deaths as well."--Paula Giddings, author of "When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America"
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies
- Self-help | Death, Grief, Bereavement
- Social Science | Death & Dying
Dewey: 393.089
Series: John Hope Franklin Center Book
Physical Information: 0.61" H x 6.14" W x 9.01" (0.76 lbs) 248 pages
Themes:
- Ethnic Orientation - African American
- Topical - Death/Dying
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Passed On is a portrait of death and dying in twentieth-century African America. Through poignant reflection and thorough investigation of the myths, rituals, economics, and politics of African American mourning and burial practices, Karla FC Holloway finds that ways of dying are just as much a part of black identity as ways of living. Gracefully interweaving interviews, archival research, and analyses of literature, film, and music, Holloway shows how the vulnerability of African Americans to untimely death is inextricably linked to how black culture represents itself and is represented.
With a focus on the "death-care" industry--black funeral homes and morticians, the history of the profession and its practices--Holloway examines all facets of the burial business, from physicians, hospital chaplains, and hospice administrators, to embalming- chemical salesmen, casket makers, and funeral directors, to grieving relatives. She uses narrative, photographs, and images to summon a painful history of lynchings, white rage and riot, medical malpractice and neglect, executions, and neighborhood violence. Specialized caskets sold to African Americans, formal burial photos of infants, and deathbed stories, unveil a glimpse of the graveyards and burial sites of African America, along with burial rituals and funeral ceremonies.
Revealing both unexpected humor and anticipated tragedy, Holloway tells a story of the experiences of black folk in the funeral profession and its clientele. She also reluctantly shares the story of her son and the way his death moved her research from page to person.
In the conclusion, which follows a sermon delivered by Maurice O. Wallace at the funeral for the author's son, Bem, Holloway strives to commemorate--through observation, ceremony, and the calling of others to remembrance and celebration.