Read more about Dr. Banks' work in "The quest to find African American graves before they’re lost to climate crisis": www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021...
1. For Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating women shaping a more sustainable future of deathcare. Dr. Jennifer Rochon Blanks is an environmental scientist working to protect endangered African American cemeteries.
For Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating women shaping a more sustainable future of deathcare. From birdsong to burial choices, Danielle Belleny is helping us reimagine deathcare that nourishes both people and planet. www.youtube.com/watch?v=n59_...
This Women’s History Month we’re honoring innovators like Katrina Spade, who remind us that a sustainable future includes how we care for our dead. Watch this short talk from Katrina about her design and thought process behind human composting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=svm_...
Watch the trailer: a24films.com/docs/andr%C3...
Join us for screenings in Chicago, Philly, & Boston. Come laugh, cry, and talk about the one thing we’re all doing: dying.
RSVP to ericka (at) orderofthegooddeath.com (screenings are free. You must be on our guest list to attend).
1. Big feelings. Dark humor. One very honest look at mortality.
We’re thrilled to partner on special screenings of Andre Is an Idiot, the new documentary from A24 that turns a terminal diagnosis into an unexpectedly hilarious and deeply moving exploration of mortality.
We're giving away 2 copies of WHEN WE SPOKE TO THE DEAD.
TO ENTER:
-Must be 18+ & have a U.S. mailing address
-Leave a comment letting us know why you'd like to add WWSttD to your reading list!
-Giveaway ends 3/9, 11:59 PST.
Throughout the month, we’ll highlight the innovators, artists and advocates showing us that sustainability can be one of the most profound expressions of love and community care.
This year’s Women’s History Month theme, Women Shaping a Sustainable Future, feels especially meaningful to us.
Across the death positive movement, women have been leading the way toward funeral practices that demonstrate how caring for the earth is deeply intertwined with caring for one another.
We're giving away 2 copies of WHEN WE SPOKE TO THE DEAD.
TO ENTER:
-Must be 18+ & have a U.S. mailing address
-Leave a comment letting us know why you'd like to add WWSttD to your reading list!
-Giveaway ends 3/9, 11:59 PST.
We’re also hosting a special Member event with Ilise and book giveaway to celebrate. Join us as all month as we honor the women who helped shaped deathcare and challenged the status quo. www.orderofthegooddeath.com/membership
In our newest article, Ilise S. Carter reflects on a time when contacting the dead wasn’t just a parlor trick, it was a political act, declaration of autonomy, and a radical reimagining of women’s voices and power that still echoes today www.orderofthegooddeath.com/article/when...
1. We’re kicking off Women’s History Month with a story that reaches beyond the veil
Scotland becomes first UK country to legalize aquamation, a green alternative to flame cremation www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
A sneak peek at an upcoming Order project designed to help you live fully and die prepared.
Whether you’re a deathcare professional, longtime advocate, or simply death-curious, Order Membership offers context, care, & community.
Join: www.orderofthegooddeath.com/membership
• A new study on why green funerals aren’t just personal choices, but part of a much bigger environmental reckoning
• The troubling legacy behind the anatomical images still used in medical textbooks
• A hit medical drama brings death doulas, unclaimed bodies, & end-of-life dignity to prime time
• A groundbreaking national database exposing how indigent deaths are handled
• A small business takes on Oklahoma’s funeral licensing laws, & the quiet economics of funeral poverty
• A viral app addresses the fear of dying unseen in an age of isolation
1. Here’s what we covered in this month’s Order Member newsletter!
• Human composting finally takes root in NY, & why legalization wasn’t the finish line
• When museums sanitize queer grief: what happens when context disappears from an AIDS-era masterpiece?
7 Books That Reveal How Capitalism Is Coming for Your Corpse
⚰️💰These authors examine the absurd, expensive, and tragic reality of navigating the death industrial complex
electricliterature.com/7-books-that...
And don’t miss Darnell at our Mortal Media Club, where he’ll dive into his book and his work as a death doula. Become an Order member today: www.orderofthegooddeath.com/membership
NEW ARTICLE
Today we’re excited to share an exclusive excerpt from Darnell Lamont Walker’s new book Never Can Say Goodbye: the Life of a Death Doula and the Art of a Peaceful Goodbye.
Read "Our Fear of Death is Not An Heirloom We Want to Pass On" here: www.orderofthegooddeath.com/article/our-...
In other traditions, hearts or written sentiments were burned, allowing messages of love & grief to rise as smoke carried them to the dead.
Valentine’s Day hasn’t always been about giving hearts away. Sometimes, it’s about deciding how to hold them in the earth, in the fire, or close to our own.
In the 19th century, writer Mary Shelley was believed to have kept her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley’s heart after his death carrying it with her as an enduring relic of love and loss. annamazzola.com/did-mary-she...
1. Long before Valentine’s cards, people honored love and grief through the heart itself.
In medieval Europe, hearts were sometimes buried separately from bodies, laid to rest in places of deep devotion. www.mentalfloss.com/history/10-p...
And don’t miss Darnell at our Mortal Media Club, where he’ll dive into his book and his work as a death doula. Become an Order member today: www.orderofthegooddeath.com/membership
NEW ARTICLE
Today we’re excited to share an exclusive excerpt from Darnell Lamont Walker’s new book Never Can Say Goodbye: the Life of a Death Doula and the Art of a Peaceful Goodbye.
Read "Our Fear of Death is Not An Heirloom We Want to Pass On" here: www.orderofthegooddeath.com/article/our-...
We believe people deserve real, affordable choices.
Learn more on our Legislative Advocacy News Page, "Small Business Challenges Oklahoma’s Unconstitutional Restrictions on Selling Caskets" www.orderofthegooddeath.com/get-involved...
This isn't new. In 2011, 38 monks in Louisiana took on similar laws and won. Courts have repeatedly found that these rules are unconstitutional and exist to shield the funeral industrial complex, not to serve the people. www.theatlantic.com/national/arc...
This is one of the quiet ways the funeral industry maintains control over deathcare, by limiting who can participate, blocking competition, and keeping prices high and choices limited. The result? Many families paying more than they can afford, a major driver of funeral poverty.
An Oklahoma small business is suing the state over laws that ban people from selling caskets unless they’re licensed funeral directors, even if they’re not providing funeral services at all. These kinds of restrictions don’t protect consumers, they protect profits.
