Ballad Of Birmingham By Dudley Randall - 1549 Words

In the 1960s racial discrimination, segregation, and race-inspired violence was at its worst. Jim Crow laws kept white and African American people separate in public, the Ku Klux, Klan forced African Americans to fear for their lives every minute of every day, and absolutely nothing was happening to change these injustices. African Americans participated in thousands of nonviolent boycotts, freedom marches, and protests and nothing was ever changed until the morning of September 15, 1963. On that morning, a bomb, made of dynamite, forever changed the lives of the citizens attending the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four young black girls died in the bombing, inspiring poet Dudley Randall to write his powerful poem, â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham.† Through his poetry, Randall influenced change in the Civil Rights movement, and by owning the largest printing press of the 1960s, played a huge role in the Black Arts Movement. Dudley Randall’s ballad,  "Ballad of Birmingham,† expresses his feelings of helplessness and sorrow after the tragic and senseless 16th Street Baptist Church bombing using irony, imagery, and tone to allow his readers to understand what life was like for African Americans in America in the 1960s. Irony in â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† is found throughout the poem starting in the very beginning of the poem because one would expect the mother to be the one to want to go to the freedom march, not a young girl. Also irony is present in the poem when theShow MoreRelated`` Ballad Of Birmingham `` By Randall Dudley1332 Words   |  6 Pagesno idea what is fixing to happen. Randall Dudley’s â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham,† gives a clear vision of what happened this day in 1963. The bombing at the 16th street baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama was a tragic event for the ones in this time. The poem shows the social and historical context of what exactly was going on during this time. The author, Randall Dudley, was born on January 14, 1914. He was born in Washington D.C. but moved to Detroit in 1920. Randall was an African American poet, publisherRead MoreBallad Of Birmingham, By Dudley Randall1602 Words   |  7 PagesThe poem I chose to write about is called â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham,† by Dudley Randall, (Lit. Kirszner Mandell, 2012 pg. 378 ). This poem is about one of the four little African-American girls that were killed in a church bombing that was orchestrated by white supremacists back in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. The 1960s were a tumultuous decade for America, particularly on the off chance that you lived in the southern portion of the nation. It was pretty obvious that the Southern states were stillRead More Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall Essay832 Words   |  4 PagesBallad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall In Ballad of Birmingham, Dudley Randall illustrates a conflict between a child who wishes to march for civil rights and a mother who wishes only to protect her child. Much of this poem is read as dialogue between a mother and a child, a style which gives it an intimate tone and provides insight to the feelings of the characters. Throughout the poem the child is eager to go into Birmingham and march for freedom with the people there. The mother, on theRead MoreBallad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall Essays693 Words   |  3 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Ballad of Birmingham resembles a traditional ballad in that it tells a story in a song-like manner. The didactic tone seeks to teach us something; in this case it’s the theme of needless destruction. There are many devices the author uses to create such a tone and to tell such a story. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;First of all, the most visible element of importance is the irony. A kid dying in a church where his mom told him to go to be safe is very ironic andRead MoreThe Real Life Events Illustrated in The Ballad of Birmingham, by Dudley Randall525 Words   |  3 PagesThe tragic poem, â€Å"The Ballad of Birmingham,† begins with a young child asking an imploring question to her mother, â€Å"May I go downtown instead of out to play† (Randall, 669)? The author, Dudley Randall, illustrates the conflict and irony between the mother and her child. The mother only wants to protect her child from the dangers that await her, but the child on the other hand, only wants to be a part of the Freedom March in Birmingham, Alabama. â€Å"The Ballad of Birmingham† was written about the realRead MoreThe Ballad Of Birmingham Poem1385 Words   |  6 Pagesnever met before. Imagine your child making world news and being put in history books because of the evil negligence of another fellow American. This reality was true for the families of the victims in the Ballad of Birmingham poem. In my opinion, this is a well structured essay by Dudley Randall which describes minutes before an innocent girl dies in one of the most unimaginable ways. I believe losing her child is a hard thing for a mother to go through. I enjoy the end rhyme and the ability forRead MoreDudley Randalls Poem Ballad of Birmingham Essay examples563 Words   |  3 PagesDudley Randall was born on January 19, 1914 in Washington D.C. and died on August 2, 2000 in Southfield, Michigan. His mother Ada Viloa was a teacher and his father Arthur George Clyde Randall was a Congregational minister. His father was very much into politics because of that Dudley and his brother would listen to prominent black speakers. When Randall was about nine years old he and his family move to Detroit, Michigan in 1920. By the time he was thirteen he had his first poem published in theRead MoreFigure Of Speech InBallad Of Birmingham, By Dudley Randall1059 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† is a ba llad written by Dudley Randall. A literary ballad is a poem that tells a short story in a simple narrative and is not accompanied by music. In this ballad, Randall tells the story of an African American mother and her child living in the 1960s. In this period of time African Americans and other minority groups where segregated and denied their Humans Rights. To analyze a poem, you have to first analyze or find the literary elements of the poem to get an idea of the timeRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Ballad Of Birmingham 1121 Words   |  5 Pagesright and it ultimately blows up in your face. This poem written by Dudley Randall   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ballad of Birmingham† is a world shattering and ironic story of a mother trying to keep her daughter out of harm’s way, and it ultimately failed. Randall wrote his poem in dialogue to show a conversation between mother and daughter. As well as that, dialogue is used to show the hardships of growing up black especially in the 1960s.   However Randall also uses irony as an unexpected twist. Lastly he uses imagery to expressRead MoreA Historical Look Into the â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham1102 Words   |  5 PagesA Historical Look into the â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham The â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham is a shocking poem that was written by Dudley Randall about a bombing of an African American church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The bombing of the church was racially motivated and resulted in the death of four innocent African American girls and was the turning point in the United States 1960s Civil Rights Movement. In Dudley’s poem he has taken such a sad event and turned it into a poem showing the racially motivated