Passed On: African American Mourning Stories Summary

Karla F.C. Holloway’s has conducted many interviews, historical accounts, and personal reflection regarding African Americans lives in the United States. The book under review here, Passed on: African American Mourning Stories, examines the racial politics of the death care industry throughout the twentieth century of African Americans. Holloway demonstrates how racial injustice such as violence against African Americans and medical neglect has shaped African American’s transition between this world and afterlife. In what follows, I offer an explanation of the book’s content, followed by an evaluation. Passed on: African American Mourning Stories contains five main chapters. The first chapter is entitled “Who’s Got the Body?: The Business …show more content…
In addition, she provides historical accounts of lynchings, state executions, and medical neglect, and segregation between blacks and whites. As a result of these events, the chapter concludes with black suicide. In chapter 3, “The End of Days,” demonstrates how black death presents itself through African American literature such as visual art. Also it examines how children do not escape lynching, and ultimately expressing the community’s identity in its youth. In chapter 4, “Funeralized: The Remains of Our Days,” examines the ritual of the black funerals involving wakes, funeral processions, spirited eulogies, and the church. As well with the events, there have been influential artists and songs expressing the impact of the African American culture. In chapter 5, “The Promise of Hope in a Season of Despair,” Holloway concludes the book with Dr. Wallace leading a sermon from despair to hope through preaching from the Old Testament. The book ends in an optimistic approach noting that “Don 't lose heart, dear ones. Don’t let it make you bitter. Try to understand. The world’s already bitter enough, we got to try to be better than the world”