Soulful Moans

"Now I knew how he felt. Now I understood why he needed a drink when he came home from the humiliating task of getting his business license, when he received a traffic ticket for the fabricated violation of driving with too many clothes on, or when a white woman called him boy in front of Myers and me. Every southern black had known such moments, and felt the rage that threatened to burn through the masks of meekness and submission behind which we hid our true feelings. It was like a beast that lay in wait to devour us. Some fought it with drink, others with prayer. You can hear the struggle in the soulful wails of gospel and the passionate moans of blues singers."

Clarence Thomas
My Grandfather's Son