Analysis of “The Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall

“The Ballad of Birmingham,” by Dudley Randall, recounts the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that took place in the year of heightened civil rights protests. This “Rebellion” had culminated in the March on Washington in August and had been stirred by Martin Luther Kings “I have a dream” speech. The following month, the Birmingham tragedy took the lives of four little girls at Sunday School and injured other children. The attack aroused nationwide grief and indignation. Dudley Randall’s lyric describes a mother’s reaction to the bombing.
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