The San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum Black history film series has covered a range of subjects from blues singer Bessie Smith, ballerina Misty Copeland, outspoken author James Baldwin, Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ marching band culture.
Next up on Oct. 19, the series turns back to its San Antonio home with The Passing On, a documentary look at embalmer James Bryant.
After decades as chief embalmer at Lewis Funeral Home on the East Side — notable for being the oldest Black-owned business in San Antonio having opened in 1909 — in 2016 Bryant was named National Embalmer of the Year by Epsilon Nu Delta, a 600-member professional fraternity for embalmers.
His notoriety drew the attention of Richmond, Virginia cinematographer Nathan Clarke, who at first intended to make a straightforward short film about death and dying.
But after beginning with some basic interviews and filming, “We figured out really quickly that it was better to talk with people that worked around death than it was to talk with people that were about to experience death,” Clarke said, in part to avoid the emotional complexity of people facing mortality.
Passing on a legacy
During a particular exchange captured on film, Clarke became fascinated with the septuagenarian Bryant’s concern for passing his knowledge on to a new generation in hopes of seeing the Black funeral home tradition continue.
Bryant’s young protege, Clarence Pierre, reads a statement he was asked to prepare to demonstrate how he might interact with a grieving family. Pierre finishes with standard politeness, “Be careful driving, and have a nice day.”
In a gentle but direct tone, Bryant advises Pierre to leave out the last part. “If I’m burying my momma, I’m not gonna have a nice day,” he said. The constructive critique was meant to shift the student’s perspective from what goes on behind closed doors in the embalming room toward empathizing with what families who contact the funeral home are experiencing.
The teaching moment crystallized Clarke’s idea of what the film could be. “There’s so many layers to what is happening here, giving an insight into how we care for people in the midst of their most painful moments in grief,” Clarke said.
“There was this entire dynamic that I sensed in the moment but came to learn more as the project went along … which is James is nearing the end of his career and wants to pass on this legacy of the Black funeral home to a younger generation. At that point, I was like, ‘Oh, this is the film.”
In Black and white
The Passing On gently charts a generational disconnect between the 70-something Bryant, who experienced segregation and was shut out of white-owned funeral homes in the early part of his career, and Pierre, who sees white- and Latino-run funeral homes as potential career opportunities.
“Clarence came out of the white environment,” Bryant said in the film, speaking of Pierre’s prior experience working in a white-oriented funeral home, “so working at a white firm to him was not out of the norm. What was out of the norm for him was coming here. So he has to learn some things and learn how to make some adjustments.”
The film notes that standard teaching of death care techniques is focused on embalming for white people, which is different from techniques required for Black people. Bryant’s deep knowledge of effective skin tone matching, makeup and even specific chemicals lends credence to the understanding that the two are not interchangeable.
“When you get out in the real world and you go to a Black funeral home your embalming is going to be different,” noted Tony Hendricks, Chief Operating Officer of the Lewis Funeral Home, “and James knows what he’s doing.”
Bryant remains in touch with Pierre, who opened his own funeral home in Houston in 2021, just months after The Passing On premiered on the PBS show Reel South.
Asked how he feels about successfully passing on his legacy, Bryant said, “It humbles me, to the fact that you can’t keep it all to yourself, you’ve got to pass it on.”
The Passing On will screen at the Magik Theater on Oct. 19, beginning at 6 p.m. Bryant will be in attendance for a question and answer session after the hourlong film. Attendance is free but registration is required.
