Paul Rosenblatt & Beverly Wallace

Product Information

African American Grief carefully sorts out what is universal in grief, what is individual difference, and what is cultural. With careful attention to detail Rosenblatt and Wallace provide us with a first-ever book. Here, through stories and through observing practices, we see that racism too often is a part of the death process, that racism has an effect on the resulting bereavement and that coping of the African American family is specific to their unique culture.

The foundations of this book are strong and clear and over-reaching. African American Grief shows a portrait that is holistic, showing how racism frames and affects quality of life and the manner and rate of death for many African Americans.

These moving, real-life stories also illustrate the unique role of faith in coping with racism and grief.

Table of Contents
     Grief and Life Span
     Racism as a Cause of Death
     Racism and Discrimination in the Life of the Deceased
     Visitations, Wakes, and Funerals
     African American Institutions for Dealing with Death
     How People Talked about Grief
     Grief soon after the Death
     Meaning Making
     Grief over the Long Run
     The Family Grief Process
     God
     Being Strong in Grief
     Continuing Contact with the Deceased
     Talking about It, Crying about It with Others
     Our Grief and Theirs:  African Americans Compare Their Grief with Euro-American Grief
     Understanding African American Grief


Paperback,193 pages.