Death to the Africans and its Diaspora has always been a most sacred observance which provokes many rituals and ceremonies to ensure that the spirit of the dead and departed arrived at its destination unhindered.

Although sold, and sometimes stolen into slavery they managed to somehow retain their culture, customs and traditions which they brought with them from Africa, the most important of these was the way in which they paid their last respects to their dead. These traditions have held fast throughout the centuries passed down from one generation to the other and still practiced today, although somewhat diluted and now merged to some extent with European practices brought to America by the colonialists.

The Africans brought with them their belief in magic, witchdoctors, talismans and lucky charms whilst the European brought Christianity and the two are now inextricably linked. The emphasis was on providing a decent burial for their dead which was undertaken with profound respect and deep reverence. The African Americans believed that the body and spirit were completely different entities and that the spirit was a living thing to the extent that offerings would be brought for the spirit and placed on the grave.

The burial ritual was practiced to the best of their ability even during their enslavement and it was the few times they were allowed to congregate as a community and socialize. Usually the mourning would continue for many hours where the courage of the family of the departed would be bolstered with songs, prayers and story telling, usually the past undertakings of the person would be spoken of including any secret activities they might have undertaken during their life such as participation in the underground railway movement or perhaps teaching other slaves to read and write, all of which were forbidden and punishable, but now safe to reveal. This usually too took place in the yard whilst the dead body was laid out in the the house with someone paying vigil.

The gatherings took on a celebratory tone with an air of hopefulness and the belief that the dead person was finally free, out of bondage and on their way home to glory. The poor conditions of the slaves meant that they had very little, however they would assist each other at such times by bringing with them food and drink from their own meagre supplies to assist and support the bereaved family, a practice which is still prevalent in many African societies and its Diaspora even today.

The slaves had full responsibility for burying their own dead, which included preparing the body for interment, building the coffin and volunteering to assist with the digging of the grave. Their graves were usually not marked by headstones and over time, many African American grave yards were often lumpy and uneven places. Headstones did not begin to appear until the early twentieth century when a black middle classes began to emerge giving rise to erection of elaborate memorials.

Segregation in the Southern states of America was an important part of the political system which meant that white funeral parlours often refused to provide the African American with a burial service, without fear of redress. This gave rise to the growth of African American funeral homes and mortuaries run for black people, by black people.

In New Orleans they have a unique and novel way of addressing their funerals which is peculiar to New Orleans alone, with Jazz music playing the central role in the funeral cortege. On the way to the cemetery the tone is usually sombre and mournful with old gospel music being played by a brass band, which continues until the body is ‘cut loose’ and the grave is covered, usually by the men attending the funeral, after which the mood and tempo changes and becomes more upbeat with dancing and singing of songs like ‘when the saints go marching in’ and where the opened umbrella and waving handkerchiefs takes centre stage. This style of funeral is believed to have its roots firmly planted in West Africa and New Orleans is world famous for the way in which they bury their dead.

As time progressed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, necessity grew for an organised system whereby money could be put aside for the inevitable and associations began to organised themselves whereby a small sums of money, pennies usually, could be ‘put-by’ over a period of time, which would be used to purchase the coffin, the burial attire and a the grave spot, in an effort to satisfy their need to ensure that their loved one was buried with full dignity and spirituality. On reflection this system devised by the African American was the precursor to today’s burial insurance.

Many African Americans became lodge members and when a member passed away, the lodge took on the responsibility for arranging their burial, erecting their headstones, which would often attest to their involvement and in the early stages offered whatever support they could to the family during the initial grieving period.

The role and social status of the undertakers took on great importance, eventually gaining them the status as leaders within their communities. These men were usually well-educated people with leadership qualities and eventually the funeral homes became ‘one-stop-shops’ for funeral services, counselling, advice and a whole host of other community support.

Burial plots are now allocated according to the wealth and the social status of the person and closely akin to how much the individual’s family is able to afford. Today there are many aspects of the African American funeral which are somewhat reflective of their white counterpart, with viewing arranged in beautifully decorated funeral parlours with piped music, printed programmes and limousines. However, the spirituality aspect still holds fast and remains the core of the burial proceedings. Music play a central role in the life of the African Americans and it is as important to them in life as it is in death.

Source: Google African American burials