Soul

The idea of soul in African American culture is a quality of consciousness that puts people in direct contact with history, culture, and religion. Soul is an expressive consciousness that takes into consideration all aspects of oratory, music, dance, and art. When people are attuned to the nuances and symbolism of a piece of music, they might say that the music has soul. People can also experience soul when they see and hear a public speaker: The listener or observer can quite easily tell if an orator has soul or not by paying attention to the gestures, linguistic slides, and mannerisms of the orator's voice and body, as well as to his or her general appearance. Soul is the experience of a performance rather than the experience of a text, as it engages more than the mind. Soul is the expression of all the most intimate secrets of a people.

In Black Studies, the idea of soul carries with it the idea of that which possesses meaning. Sometimes events, personalities, and situations conspire to create an atmosphere for soul to emerge. When soul emerges, everyone who has participated or participates in the historical reality of African people knows that it has come. To some degree, soul is a psychological fact— a feeling, a mood, and an attitude. How individuals mediate their lives when confronted with the power of the concept in music, art, dance, or a sermon is a separate arena for discussion. Soul is the evidence of an instantiation of African American culture, history, and experiences. People evoke soul through epic memories of ancestors’ names, ritual performances that simulate victories over obstacles, and appeals to commonalities that are historically grounded, whether in a particular jazz riff or in a Martin Luther King–style sermon.