The Little Peoples from <ref target="http://harlemshadows.org">Harlem Shadows: A Digital Edition</ref> This file is produced from the material at Harlem Shadows: A Digital Edition December 6, 2015 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical 4.0 International This file is generated from a master file containing the text of Claude McKay's 1922 collection of poems Harlem Shadows and related documents (other appearances of McKay's poems, reviews, and related material). The base text for this file is drawn from the item listed below. Claude McKay The Little Peoples The Liberator (July, 1919): 21 The Little Peoples The Little Peoples The little peoples of the troubled earth, The little nations that are weak and white;— For them the glory of another birth, For them the lifting of the veil of night. The big men of the world in concert met, Have sent forth in their power a new decree: Upon the old harsh wrongs the sun must set, Henceforth the little peoples must be free! But we, the blacks, less than the trampled dust, Who walk the new ways with the old dim eyes,— We to the ancient gods of greed and lust Must still be offered up as sacrifice: Oh, we who deign to live but will not dare, The white world's burden must forever bear!