By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Family reunions have long been a vital part of Black Americans coming together, learning from and enjoying one another.
From the printed T-shirts and lavish cookouts, to card game tournaments, line dancing and other activities, Black family reunions are often events that live long into the participants’ memories.
“It’s one of the largest intergenerational spaces you’ll find in the Black community,” said Aleya Fraser, a cultural historian and ethnobotanist. “You have great-grandparents, great-aunts, great-uncles, babies, toddlers—everyone in one space.”
This annual tradition, passed down and upheld through generations, helps people remember where their family came from, unite with one another and find joy—something that has been rare for Black Americans throughout the years of slavery and systemic racism.
“During the period of enslavement, Black families were ‘torn asunder’ with fathers, mothers and children facing the constant peril of being sold away from each other,” said Angela Siner, director of African Studies at The University of Toledo. “However, the physical separation did not diminish the emotional attachments individuals had for their loved ones. They held loved ones in their hearts, and believed that they would be reunited again.”
Siner explained that at the end of the Civil War, the top priority for the freed people was to reunite with family members.
“According to historical records, individuals placed ads in newspapers and even walked to the last places where they had seen them,” said Siner. “This time of reunification became the basis for future Black family reunions.”
Fraser also discussed how young adults today can use family reunions as a way to connect with their elders.
“One of the major complaints of our generation is that our family members and elders did not pass down everything they knew. This is only partially true,” said Fraser. “We do not spend enough time with elders, asking them questions, building deeper relationships with them, and observing their actions. The moment I start coming around more often and showing love, the floodgates of information open and most people are more than happy to share.”
She also recommended engaging in an ancestral task with them—such as shucking corn or shelling peas—and using that time to ask open-ended questions.