Tag Archives: Toni Morrison

Morrison on the Death of Emmett Till

By Robin Bates | Published: July 25, 2023

In “Song of Solomon,” Morrison has the men in the community grapple with what the death of Emmett Till means.

By Robin Bates | Published: June 26, 2023

If we want literature to improve our lives, often we must read–and teach–works that unsettle.

By Robin Bates | Published: June 5, 2023

Unlike Faulkner, the Southern Agrarians claimed that African Americans weren’t an integral part of Southern culture.

By Robin Bates | Published: March 22, 2023

Reading Sanctuary while awaiting a Trump indictment is a good counterweight to facile optimism. In Faulkner’s world, the courts can’t save us.

By Robin Bates | Published: March 6, 2023

Now to teach White literature that employs the n-word? Balance with Black literature.

By Robin Bates | Published: January 30, 2023

Toni Morrison’s “Paradise” helps explain why Black policemen would carry out the horrific killing of Tyre Nichols.

By Robin Bates | Published: November 30, 2022

Returning to the States, I am put in mind of flying images in Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” and Magee’s poem “High Flight.”

By Robin Bates | Published: May 1, 2022

A Pakistani student gained special insight into Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” from his Ramadan fasting.

By Robin Bates | Published: April 25, 2022

Parents seek to protect their children through book bans. Instead, they make them more vulnerable to a changing world.