The Song 'When Will We Be Paid For The Work We Ve Done?'

In the song “When Will We Be Paid for the Work We’ve Done?” by the Staple Singers, they use pop music and culture to spread their message. The song talks about how African Americans have done all this work for the white men but they don’t receive any repayment for it. The Staples Singers focus on many different aspects of African American history throughout the song. They used this song to reflect on African American history during the times of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. They also used the catchy tune to engage people and unite them by singing along in protest. The catchy tune that made the song easy to sing along irritated the officers that had to control the protests. This song was an easy way to express the thoughts of unequal

The Staples Singers grew up in a church and gospel environment encouraged by their dad’s, Roebukc “Pops” Staples, experiences as a child. Pops grew up with gospel/church and blues music all around him (Rock). He then passed this along to his kids. When Pops had to watch his kids he kept them occupied by teaching them songs, which became their lifelong occupation (Rock). Later in their life they “became regulars on a Sunday radio show and cut their first recording…in 1953” (Rock). In the 1960s the Staples Singers started to record protest songs (Rock). The Staples Singers crossed over into mainstream pop without compromising their gospel roots (Rock). The Staples Singers used their pop music in their protest songs such as “When Will We Be Paid for the Work We’ve Done?” The Staples Singers use their songs to support their thoughts about African Americans’ prior

Since the early colonization of North America, the British used slaves to do the hard manual work that the rich British men did not want to do. Even though the average American does not like to think of America’s past, there are many things that we teach in American history about our past events that shaped America, such as the Ku Klux Klan’s hatred towards African Americans and the use of slavery throughout the South during the 18th century. Many African Americans feel that their ancestors stumbled through their life for more than 300 years (Staple 22). This is true because they had been fighting for equality between every race from since the British and Americans started using them as slaves. African Americans would like “education that teaches [them their] true history and role in present-day society” (Haskins 116) During the Civil Rights Movement many innocent African Americans were beaten up while they were non-violently protesting. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on a balcony in Memphis, Tennessee before a protest that was planned; and many African Americans were called the “N” word throughout their life prior to the Civil Rights Movement. The Staple Singers alluded to these events during their song by saying “[We’d] been beat up, called names, shot down, and stoned” (Staple 16). African Americans not only had to endure this type of bullying from