The political views and activism of Rage Against the Machine (RATM) are central to the band's music and public image. Rage Against the Machine was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1991. The band's line-up consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk. Critics have noted Rage Against the Machine for its "fiercely political music, which brewed sloganeering left wing rants against corporate America, cultural imperialism, and government oppression into a Molotov cocktail of punk, hip-hop, and thrash."
Integral to their identity as a band, Rage Against the Machine often voiced strong criticism of the domestic and foreign policies of the US government. The band and its individual members participated in political protests and other activism throughout its existence, and the band saw its music primarily as a means of spreading ideas. De la Rocha explained that "I'm interested in spreading those ideas through art because music has the power to cross borders, to break military sieges, and to establish real dialogue."
EZLN
The band were vocal supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), especially De la Rocha, who has taken several trips to the Mexican state of Chiapas to aid their efforts. The flag of the EZLN serves as the primary recurring theme in the band's visual art. Tom Morello described the EZLN as "a guerrilla army that represents the poor indigenous communities in southern Mexico" and praised its leader, Subcomandante Marcos, in an interview.Tom Morello interview on Triple J, October 31, 1999. An interviewer was once told by De la Rocha, "Our purpose in sympathizing with the Zapatistas is to help spark [real] dialogue."
The EZLN and De la Rocha's experiences with them inspired the songs "People of the Sun", "Wind Below," and "Without a Face" from Evil Empire, and "War Within a Breath" from The Battle Of Los Angeles.
The EZLN flag was used as a stage backdrop at all of the band's shows from their reunion in April 2007 to their final show in August 2022.
Zack de la Rocha asked their record label, Epic Records, for $30,000 to donate to the EZLN. It is not known if they complied.
1991–2000: First tenure Radio Free L.A. Radio Free Los Angeles was a radio show held by the band on January 20, 1997, the night of Bill Clinton's second inauguration as President. The show comprised segments and interviews featuring Michael Moore, teen rights activist Emily Hodgson, Leonard Peltier, Chuck D, Mumia Abu-Jamal, UNITE, Noam Chomsky, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, and Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas. at RATM.com These were intercut with musical performances by Morello, De la Rocha, Flea and Stephen Perkins playing different versions of Rage songs, as well as Beck and Cypress Hill playing their own songs. The band organized and played the show in response to the re-election of Clinton:
The two-hour show was syndicated by over 50 commercial U.S. radio stations and streamed live from the band's website. Transcripts of the interviews are freely available online.
"Sleep Now in the Fire" video shoot On January 26, 2000, the band filmed of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire" near the New York Stock Exchange. Directed by Michael Moore, the video was shot on the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial, across from the NYSE in downtown Manhattan. The band invited fans to join them in the shoot and approximately 300 showed up. After the breakdown of the shoot, the band members, Moore and a camera crew attempted to enter the NYSE, but were denied entrance by security personnel, who suggested they head to the visitor center instead. De la Rocha was shoved away from the entrance after briefly entering through a side door. After the incident, Morello claimed that the protest "stopped trading at the stock exchange for the last two hours of the day," and Moore wrote that they were able to "essentially shut down American capitalism" for several minutes. However, Mark Shone of Spin magazine wrote that the protest had no effect on stock trading inside the building, and the only legal ramification was that Moore was issued a ticket for filming without a permit. Regarding Moore's version of the events, Shone wrote that "many involved in the production tell a different story and question whether Moore manipulated the shoot to produce maximum conflict."
2000 Democratic National Convention
RATM played a free concert at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in protest of the two-party system. The band had been considering playing a protest concert there since April that year. Although they were at first required by the City of Los Angeles to perform in a small venue at a considerable distance, early in August a United States district court judge ruled that the city's request was too restrictive and the City subsequently allowed the protests and concert to be held at a site across from the DNC. In response, the Los Angeles Police Department increased security measures, including a 12 ft fence and patrolling by a minimum of 2,000 officers wearing riot gear, as well as additional horses, motorcycles, squad cars and police helicopters. A police spokesperson said they were "gravely concerned because of security reasons".
During the concert, De la Rocha said to the crowd, "brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked", and later also shouted "we have a right to oppose these motherfuckers!" After the performance, a small group of attendees congregated at the point in the protest area closest to the DNC, facing the police officers, throwing rocks, and possibly engaging in more violent activity, such as throwing glass, concrete and water bottles filled with "noxious agents", spraying ammonia on police and slingshotting rocks and steel balls. The police soon declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, turned off the electrical supply, interrupting performing band Ozomatli, and informed the protestors that they had 15 minutes to disperse on pain of arrest. Some of the protestors remained, including two young men who climbed the fence and waved black flags, and were subsequently sprayed in the face with pepper spray. Police then forcibly dispersed the crowd, using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. At least six people were arrested in the incident.
The police faced severe and broad criticism for their reaction, with an American Civil Liberties Union spokesperson saying that it was "nothing less than an orchestrated police riot". Several primary witnesses reported unnecessarily violent actions and police abuses, including firing on reporters and people obeying police commands. Police responded that their response was "outstanding" and "clearly disciplined". De la Rocha said of the incident, "I don't care what fucking television stations said, [that] the violence was caused by the people at the concert; those motherfuckers unloaded on this crowd. And I think it's ridiculous considering, you know, none of us had rubber bullets, none of us had M16s, none of us had billy clubs, none of us had face shields."Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD, Grand Olympic Auditorium performance, part of De la Rocha's speech.
Footage of the protest and ensuing violence, along with an MTV News report on the incident, was included in the Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD.
2007–2011: Second tenure
Iraq War, Fox News, and the "assassination" comments controversy At the Coachella 2007 performance, De la Rocha made an impassioned speech during "Wake Up", citing a statement by Noam Chomsky regarding the Nuremberg Trials and subsequent actions by US presidents, as follows:
A clip of De la Rocha's speech found its way to the Fox News program Hannity & Colmes. An on-screen headline read, "Rock group Rage Against the Machine says Bush admin should be shot". Ann Coulter, a right-wing commentator and a guest on the show, stated, "They're losers, their fans are losers, and there's a lot of violence coming from the left wing."
On July 28 and 29, Rage co-headlined the hip hop festival Rock the Bells. On July 28, they made a speech during their performance of "Wake Up" just as they had done at Coachella. During this, De La Rocha made another statement, defending the band from Fox News who he claimed had misquoted him:
On August 24, RATM played Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. They made another speech during "Wake Up".
Subsequently, De la Rocha added Tony Blair, the UK Prime Minister who supported George Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq, to the list of those who ought to be tried and hanged at the Reading Festival on August 22, 2008. The Reading and Leeds Festivals organizer announced after the 2008 festival that De la Rocha had requested Friday and Saturday slots specifically so he could be back in the US for the Democratic and Republican conventions taking place in the week of the 25th.
2008 Republican National Convention On September 2, 2008, during the Republican National Convention, Rage Against the Machine was scheduled to play a free show in protest of what De la Rocha called the power abusing party in St. Paul, Minnesota on the State Capital lawn for Ripple Effect. Morello was asked by SuicideGirls to report what happened there. He said:
On September 3, 2008, the band played a concert in Minneapolis at the Target Center, on the third day of the Republican National Convention. The band surprised the crowd when they silently stood on stage while wearing orange Guantanamo Bay-like prisoner suits with black hoods over their heads. They opened up with "Bombtrack". An impromptu demonstration spilled out into the streets afterwards. 102 people were arrested as riot police ended the gathering.
Rage Against Torture In October 2009, Rage Against the Machine, along with members of Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and the Roots joined a campaign to close Guantanamo Prison, calling also for the declassification of military records regarding the use of music in torture. Based on reports that songs by Rage and Nine Inch Nails were used in torture at the controversial facility, the group is filing for further declassification under the Freedom of Information Act.
2010 activism and censorship in Brazil On October 9, 2010, RATM made its first gig in Brazil and played at the music festival SWU Music & Arts in Itu. Despite sound problems and some flaws in the organization of the event, the first show on Brazilian soil had a major impact and received good reviews. Morello wore the cap of the Landless Workers' Movement (known in Brazil simply as MST) during the performance of the song "Wake Up" and the band dedicated "People of the Sun" to that social movement. According to the Brazilian Independent Media Center and other alternative media news websites, the TV channel Multishow, which had announced that would broadcast the full concert, censored the broadcast cutting it short after only 35 minutes of its onset, at the exact moment when Morello put on a cap of the MST. Instead of RATM's performance, the channel aired the erotic television show "Sexytime" that was expected to air 1 hour 25 minutes later.
The channel claimed that the broadcast was interrupted due to technical problems after the public invaded the restricted area of the shooting crew; it has been difficult to confirm which version is true. However, it is undisputed that the praise singer De la Rocha made of the Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement was omitted from the Multishow Channel broadcast, and censorship has occurred at least in this respect. On October 10 Morello stated on his Twitter account: "I understand the network cut away when I put on the PST hat. That means we're winning." And then corrected: "Of course that's MST, not PST. PST stands for Post São Paulo Triatholon."
Other activism