A young girl wants to go into Birmingham and join in the protest march for racial equality, and asks her mother if she is allowed to. The mother says no. She says the police have dogs that can be vicious, and that the police might use fire hoses on the protesters. She also fears her daughter might get arrested, or even shot. She doesn't want her daughter to go to the march because it is no place for such a young girl.
The girl will not take no for an answer. She tells her mother she will be safe because she won't be on her own. She knows plenty of other children who will be there. She tells her mother that it is important to attend marches because they help people achieve freedom.
Her mother listens but remains resolute. She suggests to her daughter that she goes to church instead, if she wants to go out somewhere. She should be singing with the children's choir.
The girl gets ready for church, and puts on white shoes and white gloves. This makes her mother very happy. She knows that the church is a safe place. She smiles to herself after her daughter leaves, picturing her singing God's music.
She hears a sudden explosion and a look of pain wipes the smile from her face. She rushes out of the house and runs through the streets towards the church, screaming her daughter's name. She arrives at the church to find that a bomb has exploded there. Scrabbling through the rubble, she finds a white shoe that she recognizes as her daughter's; she calls out for her frantically, asking where she has gone.
