A Close Reading of Sonny’s Lettah Anonymous College

Race played a huge role in determining a relationship with the police in London after the mass migration of non-caucasian individuals. The poem ‘Sonny’s Lettah’ by Linton Kwesi Johnson provides a clear representation of how the black race was treated on the streets, and their relationship with authoritative figures. The poem also portrays the relationships of black individuals in London with each other and their willingness to stand up one another. The poem’s narrator, Sonny, is writing a letter to his mother describing an unprovoked incident on the side of the street involving him, a man named Jim, and the police. The incident described in the letter highlights the unfair treatment of individuals of a different skin colour by the police and their punishments for attempting to defend themselves. The nationality of the narrator of the poem is made clear not by a physical description, but rather the language used.

The Caribbean language is the clue that lets readers know that Sonny is not native to Britain, and is a black individual. In his letter he states that he made a promise to his mother to look out for Jim, but despite this promise, Jim had been targeted and had ended up arrested.[1] It is made clear that Sonny and Jim we’...