Funeral rituals mobilize substantial resources and communal participation, creating intense shared grief and strong social bonds across personal and national communities.
Mamie Till-Mobley Refused to Let Her Son, Emmett Till, Be Forgotten
Open Casket confronts Emmett Till's lynching, centers Mamie Till-Mobley's public grief as Black maternal resistance, and links historical anti-Black violence to present injustice.
Rob Reiner and his wife's violent deaths triggered collective mourning because his films formed shared cultural memories transcending political differences.