Rev. Yvette R. Blair-Lavallais

The Green Funeral

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“When it comes to funerals in the Black community, the common questions are "who has the body?" and "what cemetery is your loved one's final resting place?" but the question we are not asking is: how can we honor God, our loved one and the land with an ethical, toxin-free, green funeral and natural burial? In The Green Funeral, Sequola Dawson writes with pastoral care, a detailed eye to Black traditions, and a theological framework that invites the Black Church, the funeral industry and the community into the conversation of "going green." We don't talk enough about deathcare, and how traditional "preparing the body" practices can be toxic, causing us and the land to be exposed to harmful chemicals...but now we can with this well-researched book that offers the Black community a new aesthetic for discussing death, funerals and burials through an ecological lens that promotes care for all of God's creation.”