America from Nat-Ural by Ural Thomas

"I met this lady named Marie and she was very spiritual.She was always talking about how bad America was. She said “how can you still say that America is great, with all the things that they've done to your race of people?” I said “I'm not a different race person. I'm the same as my friend across the street, he's Hispanic. I have another friend right down the street. He's German.” We're all living in America so we can give each other hope and we can give the world hope by living together and showing them that America is great.

There's a meaning for America. No man didn't make this up by himself, this was God's gift to all of us, anybody from any parts of the world. I didn't have to be this particular land. It could have been any place. We all learned together that we can give each other hope. I'm not supposed to tell you that you can't do what I can do. Take each day for each day for what it is. This is not a dream, this is right now. it's not about me, it's not about you, it's about right now. That’s the meaning of the word America, that's how I feel. It's about helping each other and giving what you've got to give. Sometimes it's just words and sometimes it's just a hug, you know what I mean? And we never know where we are going to be placed in life."

Known to many as "Portland's Pillar Of Soul", Ural Thomas' soul music legacy stretches back to the late 1950s and endures to this day.