The third life of Grang Colland

In a society where everything seems capable of stretching and expanding, what can we honor and protect by giving everything we have and paying with our lives? I tend to believe, and unfortunately, that there is a great appreciation for the value of the soul among the Black community in the past more than now. We have become quite similar to our oppressors, to the point that it exceeds our capacity to admit it. Our ancestors often repeated the phrase "His soul is his own" to describe a person of stature, and it had meaning, impact, and significance. Owning money is not like owning power, fame, or even "freedom"; these words are not at all similar. As the daughter of the people I was raised by, guided by, and who reflected in them the best and worst qualities, I believe with all my heart in the necessity of preserving the inner space fully protected—the space gifted to everyone. I believe in the soul. And more than that, I believe it immediately holds individuals accountable for their choices. It is a voluntary acceptance of one's responsibility for their thoughts, behavior, and actions, and that is where its strength lies. White man's oppression of me will never be a shield or an excuse I use to oppress others, whether man or woman or child or animal or tree, because the self I have won refuses to be owned by him or anyone else. There are people who can never be slaves; many of our ancestors who were slaves were not slaves. This is part of the puzzle and the gift we inherited, which motivated us to persevere and continue the path, walking the same road from generation to generation. This is the understanding that solves the riddle and the cipher of the lives of the "saved souls" in this novel, the lives of Grang Copeland and his granddaughter Ruth. It is an understanding of the possibility of resisting domination, an understanding that all people can adopt. I asked Grang during one of the evenings: "Do you think his efforts will bear fruit?" referring to Dr. King's exhausted Eastern eyes, which appeared cold and devoid of any depth on the screen. Grang said: "I would be more optimistic if there was a glimmer of hope that he would become the president someday. My certainty that this is impossible makes watching him less sweet." He continued: "Of course, if I were in his place, I would have acted differently and valued myself properly, but I don't give myself the necessary attention, and all I do is sit in this dull place, so I have no right to open my mouth and boast or give advice. The most striking thing about him is that despite the contempt of whites for him, he deals nobly with his wife and children."