Tag Archives: Sonny's Blues

On Falling Leaves and Letting Go

By Robin Bates | Published: October 29, 2023

In falling leaves, Clifton finds a graceful faith in letting go. It is a continuing theme for her.

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Act in All Things as Love Will Prompt

By Robin Bates | Published: March 11, 2018

My lectures on Flannery O’Connor, James Baldwin, Shakespeare and Sophocles all seem to track back to Lent these days.

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“Sonny’s Blues,” Transcendent Moments

By Robin Bates | Published: March 8, 2018

In “Sonny’s Blues, art wars with the world’s darkness and promises momentary relief.

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Wishing Hillary Godspeed

By Robin Bates | Published: July 28, 2016

What are we to make of these charismatic men like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama supporting Hillary? I offer up Thomas Hardy and James Baldwin references to advance different interpretations.

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The Inner City: Stay or Leave?

By Robin Bates | Published: July 9, 2015

How do we get young people to stay in the inner city and make it a better place? Baldwin’s “Sonny Blues” gives us a sense of what is possible.

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Brothers Bonding over a Father’s Illness

By Robin Bates | Published: April 15, 2013

Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” about two brothers learning to bond, captures some of the bonding I am doing with my second brother over our father’s illness.

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Tiger on the Prowl Again

By Robin Bates | Published: April 13, 2013

After years of quietude, Tiger Wood is once again as hungry as a–well, you know what. James Baldwin describes it.

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Horror Steps onto the Court

By Robin Bates | Published: April 6, 2013

The horror of witnessing Kevin Ware’s horrific basketball injury reminds me of a moment of comparable horror in Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.”

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Inside These Wrappings, a Brighter Life

By Robin Bates | Published: December 26, 2010

Spiritual Sunday Yesterday we had a white Christmas in Sewanee, Tennessee, where I am visiting my parents.  The world was brown when we went to bed and white when we awoke.  The symbolism of Christmas snow lies in the promise of wiping everything clean and starting anew.  Grace appears to enter our fallen world. That’s […]

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