Entry · catalog no. 0703
soul brother
/ /soʊl ˈbrʌðər/ /SOHL BRUH-thur
noun · National · 1960s
✓ Verified
1.
A Black man, named as kin — an address and a badge of solidarity from the soul era, with 'soul sister' as its counterpart. To call a man a soul brother was to claim him as family in the struggle.
“The new pharmacist over on Fifth? That's a soul brother.”
Origin & Attribution
Grew out of 'soul' as the 1950s–60s Black shorthand for the shared feeling, food, and music of Black life. By the mid-1960s 'soul brother' was an everyday address; during the urban uprisings of 1967, Black shopkeepers painted SOUL BROTHER across their windows so the neighborhood would pass their stores by, and James Brown carried the title 'Soul Brother No. 1.'
mid-1960s
Everyday address among Black men
1967
SOUL BROTHER storefront signs photographed during the Newark, Detroit, and Buffalo uprisings
1960s
James Brown billed as Soul Brother No. 1
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
National · 1960s
Spoken by
Black America of the soul era
$SOULBRThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Faded66 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
78/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1960
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
SOUL BROTHER storefront signs, press photographs of the 1967 uprisings
photojournalism · documented
■
+ Cite a sourceJames Brown billed as 'Soul Brother No. 1' — 1960s
billing · documented
See also