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Ballad Of Birmingham Short Story

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Short Story “Ballad of Birmingham”
Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s was a hostile environment that centered on racism towards us African Americans. The town became full of hatred, protest, and violence. It would become the stomping grounds for one of the biggest civil rights movements in American history. A change was needed. One that made everyone equal, and I was eagerly ready to support the cause.
Being a young girl at the time I was quite mature for my age. I knew right from wrong. While in elementary I knew my place as an African American. Being segregated became a way of life and I did not see what was so wrong. My momma always said “never cross the white line”. What she meant was to stay on my side of the fountain and out of the white folk’s way. Not fully understanding the problem it did not seem like a big deal. I would always listen to momma and obey. I never once thought about speaking up or crossing that white line momma talked about. It was not until middle school when I began to …show more content…

As I reached the church that morning, I soon realized that something had happened. The church was surrounded by hundreds of people. I made my way through the crowd to see the church in flames and much of it had collapsed. I remember being scared to death and in a state of panic. When I reached the front of the crowd I spotted my parents on their knees in tears. They thought their only daughter was dead. I ran up to them fast as I could. Tears running down my face, I began to hug them. The only words that would come out were sorry. My parents could have not been any happier. They changed their minds along with many others all agreeing it was time to speak up. This tragic event was meant to divide and tear us down. The opposite would happened African American communities all over began to come together as one. This bombing would be a key event leading to equality to all for African

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