Every Black Person Should Do It

This chapter examines how the broomstick wedding’s cultural importance skyrocketed by the 1990s. Not only were African Americans actively embracing the custom, some entrepreneurs established businesses that manufactured, crafted, and designed matrimonial broomsticks for Black couples using heritage weddings. The ritual’s popularity coincided with a variety of cultural moments that helped garner more interest in ancestral traditions, including Afrocentrism, genealogy, a rising Black middle class, and a rapidly growing and financially robust wedding industry. Holding few resources about the custom’s origins, its rising popularity prompted various authors to promote mythical histories surrounding its origins. Due to its association with Black Americans and its wide documentation among enslaved people, some prominent writers claimed it originated in West Africa. Though their theory did not go uncontested, it gained significant traction among many Black couples seeking a connection with their African past, even if there was little evidence to bolster the claim.