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"Poetry for the People": Reading Garveyism through Poetry

To let them see and know our hearts

Seems to advocate for a "peaceful" strategy for racial uplift, which depends wholly upon the benevolence and "generosity" of the oppressors/white people. This is not so different from the emotional appeal used in many antebellum slave narratives and other abolitionist messages. But what would spur such a sudden, dramatic change? And what are the costs of waiting for such a change?

This page is referenced by:

The Colored Child's Lamentations, by Aurelia S. Caine
God help the little colored child,
And with her please abide,
To help her bear the prejudice
That comes from every side.
Be with her in her daily toil,
And when her work is o’er:
Be with her when she goes to live
Where sorrow is no more.
No matter whither she may roam,
She finds it hard to bear
The taunting tongues of the unknown,
Unless she has your care.
It seems so hard to understand
The attitude of those
Who try to hurt another one,
But oh, some day, who knows?
A mighty battle may occur
In honor of our right
To live as other men will live.
Are we to win the fight?
Oo Lord a new hope we desire,
To meet the other race,
To let them see and know our hearts,
And win a higher place!
Oh, why have we been the oppressed?
And suffered all in vain?
Are we to have our equal rights?
Are we to make the gain?
Our eyes are open, and we see
The wrongs done to our race.
But when the battle has been fought,
We’ll win a higher Grace.
Aurelia S. Caine.
Boston, Mass.

From the February 26, 1921 issue.