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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - February is a celebration of Black History Month. But it also includes Valentine’s Day, which is a very popular day for weddings.

For many Black couples in America, their wedding day is also an opportunity to honor their ancestors by taking part in a longstanding tradition that dates back to slavery. It was a time when Blacks couldn’t legally marry.

Today, many couples today are still deciding to “jump the broom.”

“As a child, I always wanted to create. It’s always been in me, but life has its way,” said Catherine Broussard.

In her little New Orleans workshop, Broussard connects the present to the past. Using flowers, ribbons, and a little intuition, she makes beautiful creations for couples ready to tie the knot.

“I have to meet the couple. It’s just a connection, a spiritual connection,” she said.

Catherine’s creations, a part of Black weddings for centuries, an item steeped in history: the wedding broom.

“I design the broom based upon the connection between the couple and myself,” Broussard said.

She made her first wedding broom for her own wedding more than 20 years ago and is now making brooms for others who want to pay homage to their African ancestors who were brought here to America.

“I’m connected with history,” Broussard said.

The history of enslaved people stripped of their identity and culture and labeled “sub-human.”

“Enslaved individuals during that time were three-fifths of a person. So, because they were three-fifths of a person, they could not own property, they could not vote, right. They could not testify against a White person in court. And they also cannot marry.”

LSU professor Dr. Cassandra Chaney is an expert in Human Development and Family Science. She says slaves “jumped the broom” to show commitment to one another, an act of binding themselves together for life.

“So even though they were not recognized by the state, they were definitely recognized by the slaves and the jumping of the broom actually signified the transition of a couple jumping from singlehood to a married state,” she said.

According to Dr. Chaney, the union of marriage acknowledged by the slave community was not recognized by the slave owners and was considered a privilege of only those who were free.

“Marriage was actually a civil contract. So, in order for a civil contract to be recognized, it actually had to be recognized and to be entered into by free individuals,” Chaney added.

The act of “jumping the broom” was witnessed by millions of Americans who watched Alex’s Haley miniseries “Roots” in the late 1970s. The tradition saw a resurgence in the U.S. not long after.

Irielle and Chris Bertrand get emotional when they talk about their wedding day. Irielle sums it up with one word.

“It was great. It was heartfelt. It was emotional. I’m definitely a crier, but he was there along the way,” Irielle said.

Their wedding broom is now a part of their home as a symbol of their love and commitment to one another.

“So just to pay homage to our ancestors, you know, it would just be an exciting thing. So having the broom and jumping the broom in our modern-day 2021 wedding was just as important as saying I do,” Chris pointed out.

Because each part of the wedding broom has a special meaning, from the faith and strength of the shaft to the growth of family represented by the bristles. But it’s the ribbon that ties it all together.

The ribbon on the broom represents binding the husband and wife together, families together.

According to Catherine, it’s also where elder women in the family leave words of wisdom and encouragement for the new couple.

“You jump the broom, you sweep away old memories, anything that may be negative is swept away because you’re jumping into a new life,” she said.

Starting anew, but not forgetting how far we’ve come.

“I explain to them. I say this is your wedding broom. Your babies are going to jump over the same broom. Their babies are going to jump over the same broom. You may not be here, but their babies are going to jump over the same broom,” Broussard stated.

“It’s history. It’s something that they will have when we’re not here and hope to pass it on,” she finished.

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