Sonny's Blues Lesson Plan

"Sonny's Blues" is a short story written by James Baldwin, a prolific Black gay author and thinker of the 20th century. Set in Harlem in the 1950s (the story was originally published in 1957 in the journal Partisan Review), the story follows an unnamed narrator, a teacher, husband, and father, trying to understand the role his brother, a musician and serious heroin user, has played in his life. Finally reuniting with Sonny after his arrest and drug treatment, the narrator speaks deeply with his brother about his experiences with heroin and music and goes to a club to see him play, which transforms his understanding of Sonny's experience.