Ballad of Birmingham

“Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall is a ballad in which a fearful Black mother and her idealistic daughter engage in dialogue over whether it will be safe for the little girl to join in the protests on the streets of Birmingham, Alabama. Through his use of first-person narration, diction, imagery, and irony, Randall explores the idea that avoiding political engagement with the struggle for civil rights is no guarantee of safety from violence. These rhetorical choices offer an implicit argument to Black readers that they must reexamine their calculations about what is safe and unsafe in a world in which white supremacy poses an existential threat to Black people.

The first four stanzas are a dialogue between a Black mother and child. In the first stanza, the Black child, despite her young age, believes that she can make a difference in the world. “Mother dear” (Line 1) has the sound of childhood games such as “Mother, May I,” but the formal diction of the little girl shows how serious she is. She surrenders the right of every child—“play” (Line 2)—because she wants to be among the protestors.