In a small cream-colored room at a cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nefertiti Moor sat at the head of a semicircle. Dressed in black with her long hair in locs, she delivered instructions for the... free-flowing conversation about mortality, otherwise known as a death salon or death cafe, was unique in that it was designed for people of color. Death salons for marginalized communities are becoming more common around the country, with practitioners addressing the unique end-of-life concerns of queer, trans, or Black and brown people....
July 20, 2026
The color of death.
I'm reading "The women running death salons for people of color to process grief: 'It allows for freedom'/Death salons are spaces that allow free-flowing conversations about mortality and are becoming more popular around the country" (The Guardian).
Posts
79 comments:
Well, it's a Death Cult, so.....
'...addressing the unique end-of-life concerns of queer, trans, or Black and brown people.....' Hmm, a little reshuffling going on there, looks like black and brown people are getting pushed to the margins yet again by the 'TQ+'-ers, in the order of things.
'...are becoming more popular around the country...' That means there are three, now.
I agree with the tags, but this seems more of “death consciousness”, which is to say an unhealthy focus on death. Very Malthusian.
Marginalized communities = standoffish tribalists who demand to be on the margins because they are deeply intolerant.
Given that national investment firms have bought out and disguised their ownership of numerous funeral homes, this marketing strategy may be a cynical woke-themed way to maximize profits from people in a panic when those around them die.
"queer, trans, or Black and brown people"
Are these all the same? Yes or no?
Anyone who has ever attended the funeral of a black person knows this is entirely unnecessary.
Do they invite gang members? Do you have to check your Glock at the door?
Asking for a friend.
It sounds like shitting shiva.
"Stop trying to make fetch happen."
The human race is effed up.
"...death salons for people of color..." Hmmm, Back in South Central, where I grew up, that would likely be in the back seat of a Caddie.
"The culture of death."
well - those photos prove it!
I like the sad white lady in the photo spread. nice touch.
Remember - the left are so consumed with Trump hate and lies about Trump - they must build a sanctuary for it all.
This is a grief support group. The only thing new about it is that it discriminates based on race and gender.
"Death Doula." That's a new one for me.
Nice side boob on that lady.
How can the concerns be unique if they're common to all these people and communities?
There's a new tenant in my building who holds herself out as an "end of life doula." Her flyer says she is available for "a little help getting there." There is not defined. She can also give you a "healing touch" to solve UTI.
Talk about the one topic that is part of “All men are created equal.”
My wise Indian Oncologist client summed it up: “God always wins. We all die.”
Life: No one gets out alive.
OT: What's the air quality in Madison today? Just curious.
Can someone save me from having to read “The Guardian”? Do they ever identify what the “unique end-of-life concerns” are that apply only to “queer, trans, or Black and brown people” but not to straight white or Asian people?
Black is black
I want my breathing back
It’s gray it’s gray
Since it went away
"How can the concerns be unique if they're common to all these people and communities?"
"Cuz we makin' it up. Hush you mouf!" - Nefertiti Moor
"she *delivered instructions* for the... free-flowing conversation"
'scuse me?
Then again, I guess "delivering instructions" for what is purported to be a "free-flowing conversation" is certainly on brand for the left*, which cannot seem to tolerate a "conversation" outside of strictly defined limits lest someone be offended or, worse, guilty of wrongthink.
* I don't know whether these supposedly burgeoning death clubs or whatever they are are limited to the left, but certain contextual clues suggest that it's a fair assumption.
In the wake of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Emily Watson's translation of the original, I've come across commentary on the modern usage of the word for "slave" compared with a nuanced interpretation of ancient Greek equivalent.
Coincidentally, I just looked up the etymology of doula. Let's just say that it turns out that doula is derived from ancient Greek, and I am very amused.
It used to be death and taxes as the things you cannot avoid. Now it's death and grifters.Double bonus if the grifter is grifting death.
1950’s coffee klatsch updated for today’s *Special Snowflakes*.
"queer, trans, or Black and brown people"
That's attempting the same rhetorical trick as proclaiming "allyship" between Palestine and LGBTQ+ communities.
@Biff, just a few decades ago they would've simply condensed everything into "we hate whitey!". Now you have to wait for public events like the conviction of Karmelo Anthony to get such brevity.
I'm sure instruction is involved.
"World Ends Tomorrow: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit"
Hey, a girl has to make a living. If there’s a market for this kind of service, more power to them.
"Anyone who has ever attended the funeral of a black person knows this is entirely unnecessary."
Reminds me of Richard Pryor's bit comparing black funerals to white funerals.
https://youtu.be/KEePCR_k5aU?si=xUkpRDxxllJB6rdc&t=52
Nefertiti Moor?
Dollars to donuts she was born Nancy Ann Moore.
"Death salons" in Philadelphia must be different from "death salons" in Canada or Switzerland.
I'm not going to go after the people doing this. Tribes require rituals and a secularized society requires rites, and death has always involved rights and rituals. I do blame the Guardian for making this a matter of "marginalized communities," of "queer, trans, or Black and brown people." It sounds like something young white leftists would pick up if they were dying in larger numbers. Their moms and grandmas could pick up the practice though. Then would come the inevitable charges of "cultural appropriation."
But how do we know that the article isn't reporting on a real trend rather than inventing one and imposing it on society?
"marginalized communities"? FFS, give it a rest
i don't think you could get more leftwing jargon in one paragraph. Well done Guardian!
People of color. Who might that be? Cause Chinese, Brazilans, Indians, Arabs, and American Blacks are all POCs. My suspicion is we're talking US Blacks here. But I guess that would make the writing too clear to say that.
When do we white people get "safe spaces" from POCs?
"How can the concerns be unique if they're common to all these people and communities?"
Reading the article, it touches on things like addressing cultural norms in some communities in which they don't discuss death (and thus don't engage in end-of-life planning) because it is thought to summon death; gay or trans people who were not accepted by their families fearing the isolation that will arise when their loved one dies, stuff like that.
Marginalized communities get more press coverage, books written about them, movie and TV show characters (even those who don't match the actual historical persons), job positions, political positions, and academic positions than any other 'marginalized' group in the history of humanity.
I guess they need to discuss death in a marginalized person way, among other marginalized, yet popular and sought after people.
I'm not decrying the lack of opportunity for me. I'm just wondering when we can cease to celebrate these oppressor groups.
People of Color? White or albino reflects a coherent rainbow of colors.
YouTube: The Color of Death
Some people say doulas, I call ‘em ghoulas…
Understandable. If you are unique and have rejected God, a death doula is in order. This is particularly so when you are a member of a Democrat or lefty victim class. /s
People who have faith in evolution (i.e. chaotic) as a processes will reach the conclusion that the trans spectrum (e.g. homosexual orientation and behavior) have no redeeming value to society or humanity and the individual is a "burden" with selective value of viability under the Pro-Choice ethical religion.
"When do we white people get "safe spaces" from POCs?"
Scott Adams said nothing wrong.
I clicked on the link to "designed for people of color" with great expectations only to be disappointed to find that they meant "developed for."
And the "browns" aren't getting a lot of respect. Firstly they don't get a capital letter which is blatantly discriminatory and secondly they seem to be sort of mandatory add-on participants. Reminds me of my intramural career as a right fielder.
Let's all separate into groups based on sex and skin. Yea!
Actually, that sounds like it could be fun except for the death part.
And a death saloon would be even more fun than a death salon. Isn't that an Irish thing?
People prefer to confront death surrounded by their own community: This just in.
Whether you’re a Guardian reporter or a dopey Althouse commenter, ideology takes entirely normal things and makes them strange.
The color of death as in life has a relative significance.
The monochromatic spectrum is an ideological anomaly under Diversity dogma and DEIst practices.
YouTube: Arnold Böcklin's The Isle of the Dead
'Any man's death diminishes me' -- John Donne
Some need more help dealing with death. The people in this article are all women and all look younger than 50. Once you're older than 50, death is just something that happens to everyone, eventually, and there's no mystique nor mystery.
I assume all these people are charging for their services.
I want to have a free-flowing conversation about the fact we tidy whiteys are the "most colored" people of all. Our RGB is "FFFFFF". Black is "000000". We are way more F-in colored than them. MIC drop.
And you thought racism and bigotry were dead... It is an utter outrage that "marginalized communities" have for so long been deprived of their own death salons. Just the other day I was down at the straight White persons death salon and, man, it really struck me that this just wasn't right.
When my 40 yo daughter died from a fentanyl-related OD, I took advantage of a grief support group at a local church. It was open to all, not just marginalized people. While it was useful in a way, it didn't "teach" me anything I had not already learned after decades in AA (on how to handle life on life's own terms). A few years later, a fellow AAer cited me in his shares (without naming me outright) as the reason he didn't drink or use when his daughter died in a similar fashion. You never know who you can help by sharing your experience, strength, and hope.
Prole - you comment here. Are you dopey?
Ice Nine - that's is what I was thinking.
Marcus B. Sorry for your loss. Glad AA was there to help.
An important organization.
The color of death is dark, equitable and inclusive.
“with practitioners addressing the unique end-of-life concerns of queer, trans, or Black and brown people....”
Well, I guess queer people might be concerned that God really did mean all that stuff in Leviticus. I think people of Color should be OK unless God turns out to be a Mormon. Of course, if God is Muslim we’re all fucked, and a well-stocked death saloon would be more appropriate.
Perhaps paraphrasing Thackery would make the "death doulas" happy...
“It was in the reign of Donald Trump that the named personages lived and quarreled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, queer or trans, black or brown, they are all equal now.”
...but I doubt it.
Ice Nice said:
" Just the other day I was down at the straight White persons death salon and, man, it really struck me that this just wasn't right."
Thread win.
When Teh Marginalized (tm) choose to isolate themselves, I see it as Win-Win.
Prole - you comment here. Are you dopey?
Dopey Althouse commenters are a subset of all Althouse commenters. They say if you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one you hit.
Irish people just call it the pub
"People prefer to confront death surrounded by their own community: This just in."
I agree. So when do whites get to have their community, without being called racists?
If you have sufficient high normal Free testosterone, none of this stuff bothers you because you are secure in your strength of body mind and soul. Clearly, female commentators have an excuse for being verklempt over POC rituals, traditional or modern made up nonsense. The dopey men who are whinging are just expressing a cry for help due to their lack of androgenous hormones.
Can you tell I've just returned from a weekend in the remote Maine woods running a forge and hammering red hot metal into knives? Nothing jacks up your T more effectively.
Howard for Maine Senate.
"Dollars to donuts..." ??
Are you aware of the current price of donuts?
"You never know who you can help by sharing your experience, strength, and hope."
This is very true. My life has been changed repeatedly through contact with people who unexpectedly shared something I didn't know I needed.
This person is a grief counselor. I don't object to that - as others herein have mentioned, if you don't have your own religious tradition, you still have to find some way of dealing with this universal experience.
But *that's* the rub: it *is* a universal experience. I was literally just today talking about how, in my family, we don't talk about death (or any other things we don't want) because we are Irish, superstitious, and don't want to manifest it into being; despite what the article claims, not talking about death is not a characteristic "unique" to "people of color," gay, or queer people.
OK, donuts to dollars if you prefer.
In my family we tend to handle grief and loss with a hardy Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
Mencken, who otherwise had no use for clergy, said they were necessary for those awkward times after tragedy. They knew the old soothing formulas.
> Howard for Maine Senate
Oh good grief, what has Howard ever done to us, to deserve *that*?
Euthanasia has always been very quietly, unbureaucratically available to people with terminal cancer and other hopeless and agonizing diseases. The less said about it, the better.
The new craze of government-offered and endorsed euthanasia is often more like the new trans craze among young girls: a dangerous brew of bureaucratic nudging, cultural approval, and special status conferred to the previously "marginalized." Some countries, especially Canada, are urging people, some quite young, who need things like hip replacements or treatment for depression to accept euthanasia instead. The number of people opting for death is staggering, and the outlier cases are disproportionately from the same cohort who got sucked into the trans craze. Expect the same results. This is the logical extreme of modern trans and identity politics activism. I doubt many black and brown people will take the activists up on their offer, but watch out for your suicidally empathetic daughters.
Is this related to funeral ungulating services?
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