Visualizing: Ballad of Birmingham

Mary Ann Reilly

Task

1. Fold your white art paper into eight boxes and then select a pencil.

2. I will be reading aloud the Dudley Randall’s poem, “Ballad of Birmingham.”

3. I have divided the poem into eight sections. As I read each section, you will sketch the mental picture you see based on each section of the poem as it is read.

4. By the conclusion of the poem, you will have made seven sketches.

Ballad of Birmingham- 1

“Mother dear, may I go downtown

Instead of out to play,

And march the streets of Birmingham

In a Freedom March today?”

Ballad of Birmingham- 2

“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.”

Ballad of Birmingham- 3

“But, mother, I won’t be alone.

Other children will go with me,

And march the streets of Birmingham To make our country free.”

Ballad of Birmingham- 4

“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.”

Ballad of Birmingham- 5

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.

Ballad of Birmingham- 6

The mother smiled to know her child

Was in the sacred place,But that smile was the last smileTo come upon her face.

Ballad of Birmingham- 7

For when she heard the explosion,Her eyes grew wet and wild.She raced through the streets of Birmingham Calling for her child.

Ballad of Birmingham- 8

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,

Then lifted out a shoe.“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,But, baby, where are you?”

Task 2• Reread the poem and discuss it with your

partner. Show your drawings to one another.• Examine your eight drawings and create a final

illustration on the new sheet of paper you have been given that combines all or some of the stanza-by-stanza pictures into an image that best represents the meaning of the whole poem. You may use pencil and/or color to render this final drawing.

• Post your final image.

Ballad of Birmingham

– Dudley Randall

“Mother dear, may I go downtown

Instead of out to play,And march the streets of Birmingham

In a Freedom March today?”

“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.

(Continued)

Ballad of Birmingham

– Dudley Randall

The mother smiled to know her child

Was in the sacred place,But that smile was the last smileTo come upon her face.

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.“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,But, baby, where are you?”

Task 3

1. With a partner, take a gallery walk of the posted images.

2. Discuss what the final drawings suggest about the poem. What images are common across the gallery?

3. In 10 minutes, be ready to discuss your ideas with the class.

Ballad of Birmingham

Blackout Poem

Create a Poem using newspaper story about

Birmingham church bombing.

Create a Found Poem using 50 to 100 words from newspaper story

about Birmingham church bombing.