Synopsis

The twenty-sixth season begins with "Homegoings," a portrait of Isaiah Owens, a Harlem funeral director. The son of a South Carolina sharecropper, Owens' interest in burial practices blossomed in childhood, and the episode explores the rich traditions surrounding African-American funerals. His fascination started young; at five years old, he would bury matchsticks, later moving on to the remains of animals – chickens, dogs, even a mule. At seventeen, he journeyed to New York City to learn the pr