An analysis and response of Dudley Randall’s poem
Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall is a poem portraying a discussion between an African-American mother and her child as well as the events of the Birmingham Church Bombing of 1963.
The 16th Street Baptist Church was a predominantly African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama and was blown up on September 15, 1963. Four young girls were killed in the explosion and many others were injured. Four Klu Klux Klan members were suspected of planting and detonating the bombs used in the explosion, three were convicted and one died before being brought to trial. The case of the bombing was opened, closed and reopened multiple times throughout the years, having been officially closed in 2002 with the conviction of the third suspect.
In Ballad of Birmingham, a young girl tried to convince her mother to let her attend a Civil Rights March, but her mother refuses because she fears it is too dangerous. The mother lets her daughter attend church instead. Unfortunately, the church she is going to is the 16th Street Baptist Church.
My favourite aspect of this poem is the fact that the writing style goes from dialogue to third-person narration and changes back to dialogue for the final two lines. I really enjoy this aspect because it gives the characters more depth. From the beginning of the poem we experience this powerful conversation between a mother and daughter who greatly care for each other and love each other very much, shown through phrases such as, ‘”Mother dear, may I…”‘ and, ‘”No, baby no…for I fear…”‘ and are later transitioned into a narration of the tragedy that is the Birmingham Church Bombing which then transitions us back to heartbreaking dialogue for the final lines, ‘”O, here’s the shoe my baby wore, but baby, where are you?”‘ Part of me thinks the reason for the narrator describing the bombing is because the event is too painful for the mother to describe as well as the fact that both the mother and the daughter are in different places during the narration.
The fact that the Randall makes the decision to write the last two lines as dialogue gives the audience the idea that he wanted to give the final words of this message to this mother and daughter, to give them one last chance to have an interaction with each other. I think this is an amazing idea because it humbles the author as well as brings the main characters closer to the focus and gives them more depth. If that decision wasn’t made, I believe the poem wouldn’t have nearly as much effect on the audience as it does. Reading through the poem, you feel a sense of disconnection from the characters. Like they’re being used as examples in a piece of history, but when you read the last stanza of the poem, you feel attached and sympathetic towards the mother, recognising her grief and feeling an unbearable amount of guilt, especially when you know what the poem is referencing to and what is going to happen. You’re punched in the gut and, quite honestly, a bit of your soul dies.
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