Punk Rock

Rage Against The Machine, Rise Against, Sonic Youth boycotting Arizona

Leave a comment

Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against The Machine and One Day As A Lion has enlisted musicians, filmmakers and activists to join an initiative dubbed The Sound Strike, an open call by artists to boycott the state of Arizona over its controversial recent immigration law. The law in question, SB1070, requires local authorities to determine a person’s immigration status of they are suspected of in the United States illegally.

de la Rocha’s group now includes acts like Conor Oberst, Rise Against, Serj Tankian., Sonic Youth, Tenacious D, Cypress Hill, Kanye West, and filmmaker Michael Moore among others. Zach commented in a letter on the organization’s website:

Fans of our music, our stories, our films and our words can be pulled over and harassed every day because they are brown or black, or for the way they speak, or for the music they listen to. People who are poor like some of us used to be could be forced to live in a constant state of fear while just doing what they can to find work and survive. This law opens the door for them to be shaked down, or even worse, detained and deported while just trying to travel home from school, from home to work, or when they just roll out with their friends.

Some of us grew up dealing with racial profiling, but this law (SB 1070) takes it to a whole new low. If other states follow the direction of the Arizona government, we could be headed towards a pre-civil rights era reality. This unjust law was set into motion by the same Arizona government that refused to acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. day as a national holiday.

Source Continue reading Rage Against The Machine, Rise Against, Sonic Youth boycotting Arizona →