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November 27, 2004
Paper on Ballad of Birmingham
Shannel Hanft
English Section U
October 20, 2004
“Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall
What is considered a Sacred place in 1963?: On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Four African American girls dead while in the downstairs basement of their church, in Birmingham, Alabama discussing their first day of school. 1963, the 16th Baptist church was bombed with dynamite by the Klu Kluz Klan. Birmingham was where a lot of the civil-movements went on. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was considered the movement's main organizing center. Activists, especially Black youths came there find strategies for reaching out to high-school students to get involved in the struggle for winning basic democratic rights for Black people.
The poem, “Ballad of Birmingham,” discusses a mothers fear for her young daughter to attend the Freedom March because of everything that is going on between the blacks and the whites. She believes the march would not be a safe environment. She sends her daughter off to church instead because church is considered a “Sacred Place.” But little did she know her daughter would die because of a bomb that went off inside the church. Where here little daughter was discussing school with three friends getting ready for Youth Sunday. This is where the irony of the poem comes in. Is church really a sacred place?
When this poem was written and when the bombing happened there was a lot of racial tension going on. Which is the reason the Freedom March was happening. “Ballad of Birmingham” shows that no matter where blacks go they still have reason to fear their lives, and there is always going to be racial tension even in a place considered sacred, like a church.
One thing I found very interesting was how the daughter was dressed in white. The words say, “And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, and white shoes on her feet.” The way the words are used here it sounds like the mother is trying to hide the fact that her daughter is black or trying to be less “black” by putting the white gloves on her brown hands.
The word use of the poem characterizes each individual because the words that the daughter uses are words of bravery and hope that things are going to change. She has the hope that blacks march for their freedom and overcome. But the mother’s words show how scared she is by using words such as fierce, wild, clubs, guns, and fire. She has been around a lot longer than her daughter and has had a lot more experience with trying to overcome and thinks she knows what is best for her daughter.
As the poem goes to show it seems that the mother did not know what was best for her daughter. What if the mother had let her daughter go to the March, would the innocent daughter still be dead? It is also amazing to see the mothers love for her child. She really cares for her by the words Randall used. Such as sweet, small, baby, the fear she had for her, and when she clawed through the debris looking for her daughter. The reader could just feel the love through the words expressed.
Throughout the poem there is a rhyming scheme happening every other line because it is a ballad it was written for music. But it is genius to see that Dudley Randall continued it throughout the entire poem. One other part I find interesting is that the second stanza and the second to last stanza both contain the rhyming words of wild and child but both are used at the end of the line in different sentences.
In conclusion with the racial tension happening when the bombing happened it is safe to assume that the moral of this poem is that no place is sacred for African Americans in that time. White people, in particular had a hatred for blacks and would even go to the extreme of bombing a church. A church, a place people like to consider sacred. But it is obvious that this does not stop a hater from getting their point across.
List cited:
Moorehead, Monica. “The FBI and the Birmingham Church Bombing.” 4 Little Girls. 21 July 1997. Workers World Service. 19 Oct. 2004
Posted by shannel at 10:58 PM
Battle Royal paper
The Battle for Equality:
In the 1950’s and still today blacks struggle to be equal to that of a white man.
Shannel Hanft
English Section U
October 20, 2004
“Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison
In a story entitled Battle Royal written by Ralph Ellison lies a history lesson of the racism that was happening during the 1950’s. There are a lot of graphic details to symbolize the continued hatred that was occurring. It is apparent throughout this story that black people want to prove that they are significant and equal to that of the whites.
The story’s focus is on a young black man fresh out of high school who is invited along with nine other black men to a give a speech at a gathering of the town’s leading white citizens. The gathering ended up being an entertainment affair for all the white men present, and the ten black men invited were the show. The Battle Royal, which is considered a violent struggle or a contest, took place and all the black men were put in the boxing ring and blindfolded. Once in the ring the black men started throwing swings at each other, and there was a lot of blood coming from them and laughter from the white men. Ralph Ellison continues using this story as a way to show the racial tension happening during the 1950’s.
From the beginning to end of Battle Royal, it is evident that black men are not considered equal or significant to that of white men in the 1950’s. The story shows the lengths the black men will go in order to be equal and significant to whites. In an article written by Liz Brent on the Battle Royal, there is a paragraph she discusses worth mentioning. She talks about what the grandfather said to the grandson right before his death. The grandfather says, “after I am gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country ever since I give up my gun back in the Reconstruction.” Liz responds to this with, “Racial relations in the United States, even after the end of the Civil War, and the era of Reconstruction, are described by the grandfather as an ongoing ‘war’, and the struggle of the African Americans to gain equality is referred to as ‘the good fight.’” The struggle blacks face for equality is a “war.” The Battle Royal is the perfect symbolization for this whether it be through the grandfathers words, the actual battle, or words spoken by the grandson. It is obvious a black man will go to great lengths to look significant to a white man.
During the end of the ‘battle royal’ when the grandson is fighting only one other man for the championship, he says to himself, “I wanted to deliver my speech more than anything else in the world, because I felt that only these men could judge truly my ability.” I am confident that the reason he feels that only the white men could judge his true ability was because he is brainwashed by society to believe that white men are the better of the two. He believes being like a white man would get him respect, dignity, and a higher place in society. As the story shows no matter how hard he tried to be white, he is still black and will always be black. He needs to accept the fact that he is black because he cannot change his color. Instead of putting all his energy towards a hopeless battle of trying to be white, why not understand who he is and fight for his own race? It seems that even if he were to become like the white men it may not be all it is cracked up to be.
Looking through the story, my judgment would be that the white men are sickening men; they are rude, drunken beasts. The dehumanizing words they use to describe the black man were horrifying. The white men use words such as sonofabitch, Sambo, Nigger, boy, black bastard, and shrines to name a few. Once again Liz Brent’s article will help stress my point I want to make, she says, “This ‘battle royal’ symbolizes the ways in which white society forces African Americans to fight amongst themselves, defeating one another, in a scramble for the limited resources provided them by white society. Instead of banding together to protest their racial treatment by the white men, the young black men find themselves turning against each other for the prize money and then for the loose change on the rug.” This is upsetting to me for one that the white men would treat the black men in such a way. Secondly, that the black men would let the white men treat them like that. Thirdly, even after this treatment the black men still want to be as significant as these unkind white men. It is difficult for me to understand this, but when I take a look at society today I can see similarly what this was like.
The year is 2004, and although there are many improvements blacks are still struggling to want to be significant and equal to the whites. Why after so many years have blacks not become equal, even though most understand the dehumanizing effects of not being equal can have? I can see racism happening all the time, and if you don’t look hard enough you may miss it. Today society has a sneaky strategy of hiding the fact that we are still a racist country after so many years. It is fascinating to me to see poor inner-city neighborhoods swarming with all or a majority of black people. This past year I spent living and working in the inner-city of Atlanta, Georgia. My roommates and I were the only white people in the neighborhood. Is there something wrong with this? Why are a majority of the black people squeezed into inner-city neighborhoods? Why do a majority of white people live in the suburbs? There is something wrong with this, and society as a whole is trying to hide the fact that racism is still present by having a majority of the black people live in one neighborhood, so that white people do not have to be reminded of the fact that black people are not as well of as themselves.
In an article written by Marjorie Coeyman about being color blind she talks with a black operator of a restaurant and he says, “Publicists and agents do not feature black chefs, these guys toil in the kitchen unrecognized. It’s not that there are no blacks in fine dining,” he insists. “they’re there behind the scenes. But we’re invisible.” This is exactly right, where ever black people are they are made to be invisible, which is why they work behind the scenes and why they are crowded in inner-city neighborhoods away from the suburbs so no one can see them. In the same article a black manager of a fine dining restaurant says, “I’ve gotten used to seeing surprise-even discomfort-on the faces of customers.” When he approaches a table, he sees surprise on the faces of the customers. When people ask to see the manager they are also surprised when he says, “That’s me.” I personally would love to see the look on the peoples’ faces when they find out a black man is a manager. Maybe this will show them that black people are just as capable of being successful as a white person is.
It is evident that racism was a struggle and still is a struggle. There are differences between the 1950’s and now. The main difference is racism was much more blatant in the 1950’s than it is now. Now it is just hidden, which I believe is almost worse because people try to hide the fact that it is still present, so they don’t have to deal with it. People need to come to terms with themselves and recognize the fact that right now we are not considered equal. Once people begin to recognize this problem, then and only then can we begin to try to reconstruct what has been done. Right now I see this struggle beginning to go back down hill because people do not take it as seriously as it is.
Works Cited List
Kirszner, Laurie, and Mandell, Stephen. Literature Reading, Reacting, Writing. Canada: Heinle a part of Thomson Corporation, 2004.
Brent, Liz. “Critical Essay on ‘The Invisible Man; or, Battle Royal.’” The Gale Group 11 (2001): Short Stories for Students
Johnson, Kendall. “Critical Essay on ‘The Invisible Man; or, Battle Royal’” The Gale Group. 11 (2001) Short Stories for Students
Posted by shannel at 10:57 PM
November 19, 2004
IN the ATL
This past weekend I went to Atlanta and I had such a blast with all my old friends. Read more in detail below.
Let’s see, I got in Thursday night and Bethany (my old roommate) came to pick me up from the airport. Oh by the way I had to fly standby and that was some stressful stuff. Anyway I got in too late and my friend Stephanie and Syhnia were already in bed. So I just stayed at Bethany's and the girl’s house. Then I woke up the next morning and went to my friends Santricia Malcome's house to hang out. I was hoping why I was down there she would have her baby but that didn't happen. Too bad. But I can't wait till she does. We looked at all her baby clothes and took a walk to the library.
Next I walked to our old neighborhood, Pittsburgh and stopped by the church to see who was there. I saw Miss Tracy, Keveon and Will. Then I walked up the old Coleman Street and stopped to say hi to my other friends. I saw Fannie, Tay Tay, Ne Ne and Rosta (who is actually a dog!) Then I went to Lynn and Andy's house to hang out and see the new BABY and MY FAVORITE Little BOY GIDEON! Andy was the only one there. Lynn and the rest were at a doctor’s appointment for Isaac. (By the way this family is my all time favorite family in the world! I love them so much! And Lynn is like my twin)
I left there place and went to E.J. house. She is a wonderful woman who has been in the neighborhood for a very long time but she wasn't there either.
I went back to Andy and Lynn's house and just hang out and chatted with Andy and Bethany called and told me she was done with work. So she came over too and we waited. THEN they came home. What an exciting event. It was great to hang out with them again. Gideon is walking and doing all sorts of kids stuff it is crazy!
Bethany, Beau, Mike Mike (these two boys are Bethany's neighbors one is 13 and the other is 15) and I went to the Olive Garden to eat.
After eating we went back to Bethany's house and got ready to go out dancing. Now that was fun. We danced with quite a few guys and I almost hit this one guy for picking me up and throwing my legs around him. After that Bethany and I left. Let's see we got back at around 5 AM!!
We slept in the next day and then Bethany dropped me off in the neighborhood and I hung out at Andy and Lynn’s. It was a blast.
That night I stayed at Stephanie’s (anyone remember Bam, he is Stephanie’s son and Syhnia's brother) and Syhnia's house and Syhnia and I hung out till about 1 in the morning. Syhnia is 9 years old but she is very mature for her age. She is really a great kid.
Next morning we woke up and Syhnia and I hopped on the bus and went to church at Jars of Clay and it was great to see everyone again. (For those who know the names from church I saw Tia, Tisa, Simone, Antoinett, Miss Tracey, Cathy, Robin, all the Favors but PA, Emma, Keveon, Liz, Brittney, Austin, I can't remember the sisters names but they were there too, I think that is all)
Then Syhnia and I went up the street we saw Fannie on the way to go hang out at Andy and Lynn's for awhile. Andy, Lynn, the boys, and Syhnia went to the park to play Frisbee.
I decided I would go hang out with EJ if she were there. I also stopped by my friend's Sandy's on the way and chatted for awhile.
I got to EJ (EJ is an amazing woman she has lived the Pittsburgh neighborhood forever) we chatted for a long time. For those who know EJ they know that is probably true. We discussed life, well more she discussed life :-) She talks a lot and gives a lot of advice. It was great to see her though.
After EJ's I went back to Andy and Lynn’s and we hung out and then played Settlers. For those who don't know the game of Settlers you should really find out. It is a great game of resources ;-)
That night I stayed at Syhnia's again and they were already asleep so I came in and go ready for bed worked on some homework and went to sleep to wake up at 5AM for the long standby trip home.
Oh, on the plane I had my laptop sitting on my lap apparently I missed the announcement no laptops on lap for takeoff because flying standby I don't get on till right before they take off. So the sturdiest took it from me and said she had to put it in the overhead bin I wanted to tell her I could put it in my backpack where it would be safer but she was gone. I had a feeling it would fall and as we took off, yep I heard a small boom. We got up to where she could stand up and she took my laptop out, it had fallen in between some stuff and she had trouble getting it out. She finally did and she gave it to me and there were scratches all over the front and one on the inside screen too! From being smashed I guess. So I am sending United a letter. I just got my laptop about 2 weeks ago.
Well what a way to end a story!!! But other than that the trip was so much fun and I kind of wish I would move back to Atlanta. I am thinking about it, maybe after school.
Pictures of the Andy, Lynn, Gideon, and Isaac can be found at:
andyp.atlblogs.com and also: lynnp.atlblogs.com
Posted by shannel at 12:51 PM