Ballad of Birmingham

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4-6

TO DO

1. Answers Sunday Bloody Sunday

2. Read p. 2 and 3 of your booklet together: A General introduction of Short Stories

3. Discuss Ballad of Birmingham (poem)

Explain to the students what they will be learning and why it is important.

The Ballad of Birmingham

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson you will be able to discuss a poem which is set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to end segregation in the United States

Explain to the students what they will be learning and why it is important.

The Ballad of Birmingham

Dudley Randall first published "Ballad of Birmingham" as a broadside (a kind of poster) in 1965. The poem was written in response to the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which had a mostly Black congregation and was targeted by white supremacists on September 15, 1963. Four young Black girls were killed in the explosion, and 22 other congregants were injured. This attack was set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to end segregation in the United States and, more specifically, in southern states like Alabama. 

The Ballad of Birmingham

Upon learning of the bombing at the Church, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. sent a telegram to Alabama Governor George Wallace, who was a segregationist. The telegram stated bluntly: 'The blood of our little children is on your hands." The brutal attack and the deaths of the four little girls shocked the nation and drew international attention to the violent struggle for civil rights in Birmingham. Many white people were also outraged by the incident and offered services and condolences to the families. Over 8,000 people attended the girls' funeral service.

The Ballad of Birmingham

The FBI office in Birmingham launched an immediate investigation. In a 1965 memo to J. Edgar Hoover, FBI agents named four men as primary suspects for the bombing - Thomas Blanton, Robert Chambliss, Bobby Frank Cherry, and Herman Cash. All four men were members of the Ku Klux Klan. The investigation ended in 1968 with no indictments. According to the FBI, although they had identified the four suspects, witnesses were reluctant to talk and physical evidence was lacking. In 1971, Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case, requesting evidence from the FBI and building trust with witnesses who had been reluctant to testify. Investigators discovered that, while the FBI had accumulated evidence against the bombers, under orders from Hoover they had not disclosed the evidence to county prosecutors. 

The Ballad of Birmingham

Robert Chambliss was convicted of murder on November 14, 1977; however, it would be decades before the other suspects were tried for their crimes. In 2000, the FBI assisted Alabama state authorities in bringing charges against the remaining suspects. On May 1, 2001, Thomas Blanton was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 2002, Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted as well. His boasts that he was the one who planted the bomb next to the church wall helped send Cherry to prison for life. Herman Cash died in 1994 having never been prosecuted for the murders of the four girls.

The Ballad of Birmingham

As the title suggests, the poem is a ballad (meaning it was meant to be sung). Typically, a ballad focuses on a single incident—from the middle of a crisis directly to the resolution. This ballad uses common meter and an ABCB rhyme scheme. Common meter has two key traits: it alternates between lines of eight syllables and lines of six syllables, and it always follows an iambic stress pattern in which each unstressed syllable is followed by one stressed syllable.

The Ballad of Birmingham

First, listen to the poem (read by the poet). You can read along on p. 13 of your booklet. Then, we're going to watch a short video about the bombing.

After watching these clips, do the exercises on p. 14 - 16. 

The Ballad of Birmingham

Finish the exercises on p. 14 - 16 and check them together.

Have you got all the answers to the first short story (The Sniper) and the poems (Sunday Bloody Sunday and The Ballad of Birmingham)?

Literary terms

Look at literary terms on p. 22 - 25 --> how can you study these best?

Let's practice!

What literary terms might you be able to use for the following sentences?

• The classic novel was a real page-turner, full of suspense that left me cliffhanging for more.

• The playful puppies pounced on the pile of pillows.
• Lex Luthor, Superman's arch-nemesis, plotted the Man of Steel's downfall from his fortified LexCorp tower.

What kind of poem is this?

A wise old owl named Bartholomew, Spied a terrier digging with sorrow.

He hooted, "Why fret?

The moon isn't set!

There's no point in searching tomorrow!"

The Wasteland

Read short story together (p. 17 - 19)