Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA.

Why draw this brotha? Because it was one of the hottest days of the year, and his unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt with a t-shirt underneath reminded me of the elderly Black men I used to see during childhood visits to Darlington, South Carolina. My grandmother lived on the Black side of town where, for many folks, the only way to get a little relief from the heat was to sit out on the front porch. These were men for whom proper dress and comportment was more important than comfort–and a gentleman always wore a t-shirt under his shirt, no matter what the weather.

Ajuan Mance