Ballad of Birmingham

What is this Poem about?
This poem is about a mother and a daughter. The daughter is wanting to go to a local protest with some other children but the mother is worried that it’s not safe, so convinces her to sing in the church choir instead. The mother is worried about her daughter because there are many hate groups that will show no mercy to the protesters. But the mother later discovers that she made the wrong decision due to a bombing that occurred in the church that had taken five young black girls’ lives, her daughter being one of them.

“She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair.”
This line from a narrative point of view explains how clean, innocent and protected this child is. This makes it even more tragic what happens next because all her mother wants is the best for her but later changes her life forever.

The words and phrases which make me realize the young girl was sweet/innocent/kind are…
She refers to her mother as “mother dear.” “And bathed rose, petal sweet and drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, and white shoes on her feet. This line backs up and proves that she has been raised in a posh and protected home.