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In-Depth Resources: Unit 9
Chapter
29
Section 2 Kennedy, Johnson, and Civil Rights
Literature Selection
Two Songs About Birmingham
by Dudley Randall and Richard Fariña
On Sunday, September 15, 1963, a few weeks after the March on Washington, a Baptist church in Birmingham,
Alabama, was bombed. At the time, its African-American congregation was attending services. The bombing
was linked to the Ku Klux Klan. But not all the bombers were brought to justice. Four young girls—Addie Mae
Collins, Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, and Carol Robertson—died in the blast. This horrible crime inspired the
two poems presented here. Dudley Randall (1914–) wrote his poem in the form of a ballad, or song that tells a
story. Richard Fariña (1936–1966) set his lyrics for “Birmingham Sunday” to a traditional folk tune.
The Ballad of Birmingham
by Dudley Randall
(On the bombing of a church in
Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)
“Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?”
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“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren’t good for a little child.”
“But, mother, I won’t be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free.”
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children’s choir.”
She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.
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Two Songs About Birmingham continued
The mother smiled to know her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.
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For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
“Oh, here’s the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?”
Birmingham Sunday
by Richard Fariña
Come round by my side and I’ll sing you a song.
I’ll sing it so softly, it’ll do no one wrong.
On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
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That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun.
And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one.
At an old Baptist church there was no need to run.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,
The clouds they were grey and the autumn winds blew,
And Denise McNair brought the number to two.
The falcon of death was a creature they knew,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,
The church it was crowded, but no one could see
That Cynthia Wesley’s dark number was three.
Her prayers and her feelings would shame you and me.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
Young Carol Robertson entered the door
And the number her killers had given was four.
She asked for a blessing but asked for no more,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA
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Two Songs About Birmingham continued
On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground.
And people all over the earth turned around.
For no one recalled a more cowardly sound.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
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The men in the forest they once asked of me,
How many black berries grew in the Blue Sea.
And I asked them right with a tear in my eye.
How many dark ships in the forest?
The Sunday has come and the Sunday has gone.
And I can’t do much more than to sing you a song.
I’ll sing it so softly, it’ll do no one wrong.
And the choirs keep singing of Freedom.
Main Ideas
1. In “The Ballad of Birmingham,” what does the
mother think will be unsafe for her daughter
to do, and what does she think will be safe?
3. Evaluating Which of these two poems made
the bombing more real to you? Why?
4. Comparing and Contrasting How is the
poem “Birmingham Sunday” like and unlike
the song the choir sang?
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2. According to “Birmingham Sunday,” of what
are the church choirs singing when the four
little girls are killed?
Critical Thinking
14 UNIT 9 CHAPTER 29