Ballad Of Birmingham, By Dudley Randall

The Emotional Effect Segregation in the 1950-1960s between the whites and blacks was a discriminatory time period. Two major events such as the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech changed the United States forever. The year of 1963 is remembered for the fight for equality in the history of America. The poem written by Dudley Randall, "Ballad of Birmingham", is more personal and emotionally effective because it tells a grieving experience no mother should have to go through. "Battle of Birmingham" is a very touching poem that demonstrates the loss of a mother's child due to the bombing of a church. The result of hatred on September 15, 1963 was a total of four deaths and several casualties. During the Civil Rights Movement Era in the 50s and 60s, protesting and civil disobedience

The mother is very protective over her daughter whom wishes to go march the streets of Birmingham to receive equality instead of going out to play like most children would her age (lines 1-4). Her mother quickly objects and says "No, baby, no, you may not go,/For the dog are fierce and wild..." (lines 5-6). Line 6 represents the recklessness and uncivilized streets of Birmingham. However, the mother allowed her daughter to go to church instead, and sing in the children's choir ( lines 15-16). These two lines are very significant in the poem because the mother feels that church is a safe place for her child to be. Church is a place that is symbolized as sacred and safe, but many view point were changed that day. As the mother heard the bomb explode, "her eyes grew wet and wild" (line