Dudley Randalls Poem Ballad of Birmingham Essay examples

Dudley 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 the Detroit Free Press. At the age of sixteen he had graduated from high school. After graduation, he went to work for a blast furnace unit at a Ford Motor Company’ Rouge Plant. After working at Ford for five years Randall took a job with the†¦show more content†¦He could even translate Russian writing and experimented with a wide variety of styles in his poetry. Due to his many achievements Randall is considered one of our country’s greatest poets, publisher, and editor. â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† The reason I chose the poem â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† was because as I was reading the poem, it made me think of my children. As a mother, I always try to do the best for them, keeping them away from harm, and teaching them right from wrong. So I can understand why the mother wanted her daughter to go to church instead of marching the streets in protests. What happened in story The Ballad of Birmingham was a terrible tragedy story. Here we find a young girl getting ready to go out and march the streets in protests for the freedom of her country. When she asks her mother for permission, she was told that the streets are not a place for a little girl and instead is told to go to church. The mother knowing what danger lies in the streets during protest tells her daughter â€Å"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†(Randall). She would rather see her child go to church, so the little girl got ready and was on her way. Her mother was glad to know that her child would be at a sacred place, but then the mother hearsShow MoreRelated Dudley Randalls Poem Ballad of Birmingham Essay593 Words   |  3 PagesDudley Randalls Poem Ballad of Birmingham The poem The Ballad of Birmingham, by Dudley Randall, is based on the historical event of the bombing in 1963 of Martin Luther King, Jr.s church by white terrorists. It is a poem in which a daughter expresses her interest in attending a civil rights rally and the mother fearful for her daughters safety refuses to let her go. In the poem the daughter in fighting for the course of the operessed people of her time/generation instead of going out toRead MoreThe Ballad Of Birmingham Poem1385 Words   |  6 Pageshas never 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 abilityRead MoreA CONFIDENT BLACK MAN1264 Words   |  6 PagesConfident Black Man Dudley Felker Randall born in Washington, D.C., January 14, 1914. The Randall’s moved to Detroit when Dudley was nine years old. Randall’s earliest recollection of composing a poem was when his mother took him to a band concert. Randall s poetry is illustrated by simplicity and realism. Randall’s date of birth was January 14, 1914 in Washington D.C. He was the son of Arthur George Clyde a (Congressional Minister), and Ada Viola a teacher Randall. Randall’s family moved to DetroitRead MoreBallad Of Birmingham By Dudley Randall1549 Words   |  7 Pageslives 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 R andall’s ballad, â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham,† expresses his feelings of helplessness and sorrow after the tragicRead 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 motivatedRead MoreThe Ballad Of Birmingham, By Duley Randall1139 Words   |  5 PagesMany poems deal with the harsh realities of the death of a loved one and how those affected begin to heal as they work through the process of grieving. The Ballad of Birmingham, Eating Alone and Eating Together all portray individuals dealing with a devastating loss in their life, and the authors use their personal life experiences and views, incorporating them their writings. In The Ballad of Birmingham the author, Duley Randall, works to convey a tragic scene of loss. The event that RandallRead MoreUse Of Rhyme, Rhythm, Alliteration, And Assonance932 Words   |  4 Pagesthis stanza, and throughout the rest of the poem, the reader is better able to focus on the emotions and events that the words signify rather than become distracted by the words themselves. Furthermore, the use of rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and assonance creates a singsong poem that is used to draw the reader in with empathy before being pushed out towards a common effect of conveying the violent terrors described in the poem’s closing stanza. The poem creates a singsong effect as first, it is writtenRead Moreâ€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† Explication Essay918 Words   |  4 PagesDudley Randall’s â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the griefRead More The Ballad Essay1741 Words   |  7 PagesTh is essay is about the Ballad, contrasting how the ballad went from an oral tradition to the ballad form known today. The Ballad can be any narrative song, but in technical terms a ballad is a specific literary form. The word ballad comes from the Latin and Italian word â€Å"ballare,† meaning â€Å"to dance†. Collins, (1985). The second word translation of â€Å"ballade† comes from the French language and means dancing song. Oxford, (1995). Therefore a ballad is a song that tells a story, and was originallyRead MoreNight, by Eliezer Wiesel Essay1060 Words   |  5 Pagesas possible given the circumstance. His parents, anticipating the future, set up a way for their family to continue living well when they return. The burial of the money resembles a symbol of hope that they will return at all. In â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† by Dudley Randall, the speaker also tries to do what she considers best for her daughter. After her daughter asks repeatedly to go march in the Freedom March, the mother answers, â€Å"No, baby, no, you may not go† (Randall 5 13), following with a