| This dissertation is about life and death issues within African American culture. With regard to life, the study examines the strengths and values of the culture and how they are manifest through people. Women provide a gendered perspective about marriage, family, education, work, the black church, and other social forces that influence their lives. The challenges involved with aging are also discussed through literature and the voices of elderly women.; With regard to death, the study presents a southern African American perspective toward death and its intricate connection with life. Funerals provide an opportunity to express the multiple layers of grief that African Americans have from personal and historical situations. Funerals are a very important event in the Black community and many of the strengths of the culture are brought forth during this event. An African American funeral is considered a “homegoing celebration” and the event serves as a social forum to express various emotions and find meaning, healing, and hope.; Death is a strong force that continually invades the African American community, but rituals and traditions deeply rooted in culture are performed to build community and provide comfort for individual and collective grief. The study also examines what happens after death, particularly when elderly women experience the death of their husband and must transition from wife to widow.; To piece all of these issues together in a quilt of research, the following questions are addressed: What is the meaning and significance of death in the African American community? What are some of the strengths of African American culture? And how do elderly African American women experience widowhood?; Answers to these questions are brought forth through a combination of the author's personal and professional experiences growing up and working in a family owned funeral home, stories from elderly African American women, and scholarly literature about culture, death, grief, aging, and widowhood. The patterns in these sources provide strong intertextuality and preserve the wonderful and fascinating features of African American culture. |
