LibGuides: English 420: Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Home

About the Author

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am - This documentary reflects on the life and work of American novelist Toni Morrison. It includes discussions about many of her critically acclaimed novels and her career as an editor.

(Note: username and password needed to view).

Remembering Toni Morrison, An Iconic American Author -- New York Times (August 2019)

Toni Morrison -- bio from National Women's History Museum

About Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Call Number: M8826 so 1995
"Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. With this brilliantly imagined novel, Toni Morrison transfigures the coming-of-age story as audaciously as Saul Bellow or Gabriel García Márquez. As she follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, Morrison introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized black world." - provided by publisher

Clip from National Visionary Leadership Project interview.

Historical Context

The African-American Migration Story
From PBS, this text provides background information and is a companion resource to the documentary The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates Jr.
"From the transatlantic slave trade to today's New Great Migration, learn about the major African-American migrations and how those movements changed the course of American history." Note: Chapter 4 and 5 of this online multimedia text explores the Great Migration to the North and then the reverse migration.
Ebos Landing: The Myth of the Flying African
From the New Georgia Encyclopedia