How Black Families Honored Their Dead in the 70s and 80s: Forgotten Traditions That Won't Return

00:00 Giriş
00:54 Sitting Up with the Body
02:56 The Repast
05:03 Homegoing Celebration
07:03 Black Funeral Homes as Community Institutions
08:58 Open Casket Viewing
10:46 Screaming and Fainting
12:28 White Gloved Ushers
13:56 Multi-Day Viewing Schedules
15:31 Funeral Programs as Keepsakes
17:26 Pour Out Libations

Death in black communities during the 1970s and 1980s was never a private affair—it was a communal experience that brought entire neighborhoods together in profound rituals of grief, celebration, and respect. This video explores 25 funeral traditions that have completely disappeared from modern black life. From sitting up with the body all night to the legendary repast where entire neighborhoods brought food, from homegoing celebrations that were genuine parties to black funeral homes that served as community institutions—these weren't just customs, they were the ways communities transformed death from individual tragedy into collective experience.
Discover why open casket viewing was mandatory for everyone including children, how screaming and fainting were expected expressions of grief attended by white-gloved nurses, and why funeral programs became 30-page family archives preserved for generations. Learn about the pour out libation ritual, the sacred role of church mothers dressed in white, and multi-day viewing schedules that allowed entire communities to pay respects. These traditions acknowledged that grief was exhausting, that families needed tangible support, and that death deserved elaborate rituals reflecting the departed's full humanity.
Modern funerals have become shorter, more efficient, and sanitized—compressed into single services with catered repasts and simplified programs. What's been lost is the deep community care, the permission to grieve without restraint, and the understanding that honoring the dead required time, food, presence, and rituals passed down through generations. If you remember sitting up with the body, singing at homegoing celebrations, or when funeral directors were community leaders, this video will bring back powerful memories of how black communities once transformed death into sacred ceremony.

Yesterdays is a nostalgia channel that brings back the warmth of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Here, the past comes alive through memories of home life, family traditions, classic recipes, old habits, childhood moments, vintage TV shows, forgotten brands, retro music, and the golden days of the neighborhood.

#BlackFunerals #FuneralTraditions #BlackHistory #HomegoingCelebration #1970s #1980s #BlackCommunity #AfricanAmerican #CulturalTraditions #LostTraditions #BlackChurch #SoulFood #Repast #CommunitySupport #Grief #DeathRituals #BlackCulture #ChurchMothers #FuneralHomes #LegacyGolden