We Were There

We have plowed, we have planted, we have gathered into barns
Done the same work as the men with babies in our arms
But you won't find our stories in most history books you read
We were there, we're still here fighting for the things we need

We were there in the factories
We were there in the mills
We were in the mines and came home to fix the meals
We were there on the picket lines
We raised our voices loud
It makes me proud just knowing we were there

From the textile mills in Lawrence, to the sweatshops in New York
From the fields in California where our children had to work
We fought to make a living, bread and roses was our cry
Though they jailed and beat our bodies, our spirits never died

We were there in the factories
We were there in the mills
We were in the mines and came home to fix the meals
We were there on the picket lines
We raised our voices loud
It makes me proud just knowing we were there

We were Polish, we were Irish, we were African and Jew
Italian and Latina, Chinese and Russian too
They tried to use our differences to split us all apart
But the pain we felt together touched the bottom of our hearts

We were there in the factories
We were there in the mills
We were in the mines and came home to fix the meals
We were there on the picket lines
We raised our voices loud
It makes me proud just knowing we were there

We are teachers, we are doctors, we are cooks and engineers
Letter carriers, truck drivers, conductors and cashiers
We operate machinery, we fly the big airplanes
And we helped to build our unions, we got struggle in our veins

We were there in the factories
We were there in the mills
We were in the mines and came home to fix the meals
We were there on the picket lines
We raised our voices loud
It makes me proud just knowing we were there in the factories
We were there in the mills
We were in the mines and came home to fix the meals
We were there on the picket lines
We raised our voices loud
It makes me proud just knowing we were there
It makes me proud just knowing we were there
It makes me proud just knowing
Still we keep on knowing
It makes me proud just knowing we were there