Birmingham, 1963

Picture from: The Pennsylvania Center for the Book

1.      BIBLIOGRAPHY

Weatherford, Carol Boston. 2007. Birmingham, 1963. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong. ISBN 1590784402

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

A survivor of the September 15, 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombings in Birmingham, Alabama, a fictional ten-year-old African-American girl, tells of her life before the bombing and what happened on her fateful tenth birthday. She remembers protests, Mama and Daddy taking her to Washington, D.C. to march, and being at church when plans were made. She tells the small details of normal life: singing, dancing, eating, and going to church, until a horrific act of hatred changed their lives and the lives of a city and a nation forever. Dynamite, lit by hate, exploded their sacred place, wounding twenty-one people and leaving four innocent girls dead. Time stops for a moment, then trusting the Lord, grief and trouble follow, and protests begin once again. She prays and wishes she could be nine once again.

3.      CRITICAL ANALYSIS

From her dedication, “To all who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom,” to her closing notes concerning the aftermath of the bombings, award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford brings the struggle for Civil Rights emotionally to life for readers aged nine and up. Told in first person narrative, her free verse prose is written in short triplets, yet filled with historical information. The reader is drawn into the accurately portrayed life of an unnamed African-American girl. Weatherford’s poetry appeals to the senses with the mention of songs, snarling dogs, red-eye gravy with biscuits, coffee, gospel radio, a soft kiss and giggles. These wholesome, common sensory experiences set the stage for the contrast of the unexpected horror of the bombing of the Church. The author’s notes at the end of the book provide further information about the Civil Rights Movement, that fateful Sunday, and the final, full determination of the perpetrators, closing the case thirty-nine years later. She also provides notes for all of the photographs and suggestions for further reading. 

The book is produced in shades of gray and tan, with a sepia quality, with accents of rust, which adds to the drama of the poem and the haunting black-and-white period photographs. The rust accents are discontinuous, like an unfinished picture, perhaps emblematic of four young lives cut short. There are photographs of objects common to childhood in the 1960’s: pencils and erasers, bobby socks, white gloves, patent leather shoes, Motown records, hula hoops, and Barbie doll clothes accompanying the poem on the left side of the double-page spread. The right side is dedicated to moving, real-life photographs of the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement. There are pictures of children with protest signs, the March on Washington, a sign reading “Colored Waiting Room,” African-American choir members, and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Then there are pictures which attempt to describe the hate, terror and tragedy of the bombing-a Ku Klux Klansman, the aftermath of the bombings and the closing photograph of “No More Birminghams.” The final four photographs are portraits of the four girls, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Denise McNair, and Carole Robertson, each accompanied by a biographical poem.

Working together, Weatherford’s choice of words and pictures create a soul-stirring tribute to those who gave their lives in the struggle for Civil Rights that Sunday morning in September, 1963. The book stands as a poignant reminder of the tragedy that shook our nation and deserves to be on the shelves of every library. 

4. AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2008 Jane Addams Children's Book Award

2008 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award 

Starred Review from Kirkus Reviews: “Exquisitely understated design lends visual potency to a searing poetic evocation of the Birmingham church bombing of 1963...It's a gorgeous memorial to the four killed on that horrible day, and to the thousands of children who braved violence to help change the world.”

Starred Review from School Library Journal: “In understated free verse, an unnamed, fictional girl narrates the events that preceded the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church…An emotional read, made even more accessible and powerful by the viewpoint of the child narrator.”

 

5.      CONNECTIONS

*Read aloud the poem, “The Ballad of Birmingham,” by Dudley Randall. It can be found on the Poetry Foundation webpage. The site also includes a context and background page on the poem.

*Watch the Spike Lee documentary, 4 Little Girls, (1997), available as DVD or on Google videos. It examines the lives of the four girls killed in the bombing and the after-effects on both the family and the nation. It features interviews with the girls’ families. Watch the Bobby Rivers interview with Spike Lee and Chris McNair, the father of one of the girls, Denise McNair, on YouTube as a preview.

*Discuss Martin Luther King, Jr., his role in the Civil Rights Movement, and his philosophy of non-violent protest.

*Investigate the Ku Klux Klan, who are they and why do they hate?

*Listen to songs from the 1960’s, such as the CD, Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966 (1997), Sing For Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs (1992), or Let Freedom Sing! Music of the Civil Rights Movement (2009).

*Listen to Joan Baez’s song, Birmingham Sunday, about the morning of the bombing. It is available on YouTube with an accompanying video.

*Examine the role of children and young people in the Civil Rights Movement. Have children introspect about what they might have done about the situation. Have them write reader response journals after reading the book.

*Have the children write a poem about an important serious event in their lives.

*Other books about the Birmingham bombings and the Civil Rights Movement:

For younger readers (age 4-8):

Bridges, Ruby.  Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story. ISBN 0545108553

Coles, Robert. The Story of Ruby Bridges. ISBN 0439472265

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down. ISBN 0316070164

Woodson, Jacqueline. The Other Side. ISBN 0399231162

For older readers (9-12+):

Bridges, Ruby. Through My Eyes. ISBN 0590189231

Brimner, Larry Dane. Birmingham Sunday. ISBN 1590786130

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham. ISBN 0440228004

Turck, Mary C. The Civil Rights Movement for Kids: A History with 21 Activities. ISBN 1556523700

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins. ISBN 0142408940

 *Other books that discuss the role of children in the Civil Rights Movement:

Hoose, Phillip M. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. ISBN 0374313229

Johnson, Angela. A Sweet Smell of Roses. ISBN 1416953616

Levine, Ellen S. Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories. ISBN 0698118706

Mayer, Robert H. When the Children Marched: The Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. ISBN 0766029309

Partridge, Elizabeth. Marching For Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don’t You Grow Weary. ISBN 0670011896

Wiles, Deborah. Freedom Summer. ISBN 0689878299