Tag Archives: Song of Solomon

Use Lit to Combat Racism

By Robin Bates | Published: January 1, 2020

My thoughts about a racial book burning at a southern college–and how literature can help.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged book burnings, Jennine Capo Crucet, Make Your Home Among Strangers, privilege, racism, Toni Morrison | Comments closed

Comey vs. Trump, Two Alpha Dogs

By Robin Bates | Published: April 20, 2018

James Comey is right to fight for American justice against Donald Trump but his male pride helped get Trump elected. Toni Morrison describes the dynamics in “Song of Solomon.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald Trump, FBI, FBI Russia investigation, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton's e-mails, James Comey, Toni Morrison | Comments closed

Surrendering to the Air

By Robin Bates | Published: May 26, 2017

As I zip-lined in the Smokies, I thought of the concluding paragraph of Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged flight, Toni Morrison, ziplining | Comments closed

The President Who Loved Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: January 16, 2017

In a remarkable interview with “The New York Times,” Barack Obama spoke about the importance of literature in his life. The range of his reading and the sensitivity of his responses is astounding.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Barack Obama, Bend in the River, Colson Whitehead, Doris Lessing, Ernest Hemingway, Fates and Furies, Garcia Gabriel Marquez, Gilead, Gillian Flynn, Golden Notebook, Gone Girl, Jack Kerouac, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz, Lauren Goff, Liu Cixin, Marilynne Robinson, Martha Nussbaum, Maxine Hong Kingston, Moveable Feast, Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Philip Roth, Road, Saul Bellow, Tempest, Three Body Problem, Toni Morrison, Underground Railroad, V.S. Naipaul, Warrior Woman, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Toni Morrison’s Caution about Black Anger

By Robin Bates | Published: July 11, 2016

The killer of the Dallas policemen is not unlike Guitar in Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.” Through Guitar, Morrison shows how black anger is corrupted by violence. She also shows, through the novel’s protagonist (Milkman), how black resolve is stronger than anger and can soar above the earth.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged black anger, Black Lives Matter, Dallas shooting, police killings, Toni Morrison | Comments closed

Mixed Feelings after Winning a Drawing

By Robin Bates | Published: April 4, 2016

Following an unpleasant sales pitch, we opened up our envelope and discovered that we had won… Well, read the post to find out. I felt like Reba in Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged raffles, timeshare sales pitches, Toni Morrison | Comments closed

Dante’s Love: Hot Coals Unconsumed

By Robin Bates | Published: August 23, 2015

Solomon plays an important role in Dante’s “Paradiso” become he combines earthly sensuality and celestial wisdom. I find this to be a healthier vision than those who elevate the spirit over the body.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Dante, Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Solomon | Comments closed

Obama Tells Black Graduates to Soar

By Robin Bates | Published: May 15, 2015

Michelle Obama used images of flight in a recent commencement speech at Tuskegee University. It was reminiscent of the way Toni Morrison uses flight in “Song of Solomon.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Civil Rights Movement, commencement speeches, First Lady, Michelle Obama, Toni Morrison, Tuskegee airmen, Tuskegee University | Comments closed

Top Post of 2014: Black Lives Matter

By Robin Bates | Published: December 31, 2014

I repost a Toni Morrison essay on the importance of black men asserting their worth.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Eric Garner, Ferguson, killings of black men, Michael Brown, racism, Tamir Rice, Toni Morrison, violence | Comments closed