For the love of the Black family

This blog was written as part of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Black Lives Matter program initiative. Learn  more about the program and corresponding events here.

Family reunions are a time for families to gather and create lasting memories and experiences, share wisdom, pass along tradition, have fun and EAT good food! The summertime is also when Black families commonly plan their weekends around the summer tradition of their annual or bi-annual family reunion.

Covid has put this summer tradition in a chokehold for two summers now. In 2020 due to Covid-19, large gatherings were suspended, including family reunions. Families spend a lot of time planning a family reunion - scouting locations, booking entertainment, setting up activities and catering food. As a matter of fact, my extended family spent much of 2019 preparing for the bi-annual family reunion, only for it to be canceled in 2020.

Here we are, capping off the summer of 2021, and I have heard very minimal talk about family reunions. As a matter of fact, I've only heard inklings of anticipation for when we can have traditional family gatherings again. Usually, Black families prioritize family by blocking off a weekend to celebrate with each other and reconnect the family generations. Have you ever seen four generations in one place?

Family reunions are usually a festival-type of celebration, and as a kid, preparing to attend a family reunion was full of excitement to reconnect with my cousins. I'd live for the days when my great-aunts would make their specialty dishes like homemade ice cream and pound cake.

Historically, family reunions date back to the Emancipation, when formerly enslaved people sought out the family they were separated from while enslaved. This tradition would become something that would be a continuous celebration of kinship and resilience that Black families endured. Although the reunion of the family was once steeped in struggle and pain, Black people use their resilience to celebrate family.

Although family reunions have been quiet for two summers, they'll be back. We can't let this traditional celebration of family die. The Black family won't die, and neither will the Black family reunion. Even on a smaller scale, we will celebrate.

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This blog was written by De'Trice Fox, a librarian for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.