Why Black Couples Jump the Broom – The New York Times

Because enslaved Africans generally had no legal right to marry before the Civil War, they saw jumping the broom as a symbolic way to recognize their unions. In time, Dr. Parry said, that population “innovated, reinvented and reimagined jumping the broom in a way that was fulfilling to them.” The practice has since come to signify sweeping away the old and welcoming the new, the joining of two families and showing respect to ancestors.

Here, four Black couples explain how and why they incorporated the tradition into their modern weddings.

‘The most transcendental experience’

Abram Jackson and Julius Crowe Hampton jumped the broom at their wedding on July 24, 2021, at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland, Calif., where they live. “In many ways, it was the most important element of the ceremony,” Mr. Jackson said.

A native of Tucson, Ariz., Mr. Jackson, a 41-year-old high school teacher, has roots in Oklahoma and Arkansas. “We would be remiss if we did not honor our ancestors who jumped the broom to confirm their love against all odds,” he said.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mr. Hampton has relatives who lived in Louisiana and the Carolinas since slavery. He purchased the cinnamon broom the couple used in their ceremony at Trader Joe’s, then adorned it with fabric in mustard and sage, their wedding colors, and sprigs of dried lavender, eucalyptus and craspedia. (After their wedding, the couple hung it above their bed.)