Black Death

Hollway discusses black death in America in the twentieth century and how it plays a role within society. She mentions how many deaths are for the public view.  Holloway also mentions how funerals are big shows that celebrate the life of the person that passed away. She talked about how black deaths throughout history and even today occur through violent acts. “We died in riots and rebellions, as victims of lynching, from executions, murders, police violence, suicides, and untreated or underrated diseases” (Holloway, p. 53). Death happens to people whether or not they are a public figure or just a regular person on the street.  Holloway brings this up throughout her writing when she describes the horrible lynchings and other deaths that occur at the beginning of the 20thcentury.  

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the world's most famous civil rights activists, but he is also one of the most famous deaths of a black men in America. Shot outside his motel in Tennessee speaking to the people outside, King was a great activist; but being murdered in cold blood may have helped him to become one of the most celebrated men. Just like the lynching and public executions King died like many before him.Dying in a tragic way instead of just from old age, allows people to idolize them for the way they died. King's funeral was a massive celebration of his life, not only due to him being a prominent public figure, but because of the celebrations that encompass black death.