Zack de la Rocha Biography of the Musician

The 1990s music scene was unique in that the two genres that dominated the charts—alternative rock and rap—seemed to have little in common. But that perception would change in 1991 when a Los Angeles Chicano named Zack de la Rocha melded the two art forms together in the rap-rock outfit Rage Against the Machine. Influenced by punk bands such as Minor Threat and militant rap groups such as Public Enemy, de la Rocha delivered angry rhymes about social injustice over heavy metal riffs as front-man of the group. His biography reveals how personal experiences with discrimination led de la Rocha to pen raps that challenged racism and inequality. Early Years Zack de la Rocha was born Jan. 12, 1970, in Long Beach, Calif., to parents Roberto and Olivia. Because his parents parted ways when he was very small, de la Rocha initially split his time between his Mexican-American father, a muralist in the group â€Å"Los Four,† and his German-Irish mother, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Irvine. After his father began to exhibit signs of mental illness, destroying artwork and praying and fasting nonstop, Zack de la Rocha lived exclusively with his mother in Irvine. In the 1970s the Orange County suburb was nearly all white. Irvine was the polar opposite of Lincoln Heights, the predominantly Mexican-American community of Los Angeles that de la Rocha’s father called home. Because of his Hispanic heritage, de la Rocha felt racially alienated in Orange County. He told ​​​Rolling Stone magazine in 1999 how humiliated he felt when his teacher used the racially offensive term â€Å"wetback† and his classmates erupted in laughter. â€Å"I remember sitting there, about to explode,† he said. â€Å"I realized that I was not of these people. They were not my friends. And I remember internalizing it, how silent I was. I remember how afraid I was to say anything.† From that day forward, de la Rocha vowed never again to remain silent in the face of ignorance. Inside Out After reportedly dabbling in drugs for a spell, de la Rocha became a fixture in the straight-edge punk scene. In high school he formed the band Hard Stance, serving as vocalist and guitarist for the group. After that, de la Rocha launched the band Inside Out in 1988. Signed to the Revelation Records label, the group came out with an EP called No Spiritual Surrender. Despite some industry success, the group’s guitarist decided to leave and Inside Out disbanded in 1991. Rage Against the Machine After Inside Out broke up, de la Rocha began to explore hip-hop, rapping, and break-dancing in clubs. When Harvard-educated guitarist Tom Morello spotted de la Rocha performing a freestyle rap in a club, he approached the budding MC afterward. The two men found that they both espoused radical political ideologies and decided to share their viewpoints with the world through song. In Fall 1991, they formed rap-rock band Rage Against the Machine, named after an Inside Out song. In addition to de la Rocha on vocals and Morello on guitar, the band included Brad Wilk on drums and Tim Commerford, a childhood friend of de la Rocha, on bass. The band soon developed a following in L.A.’s music scene. Just a year after RATM formed, the band released a self-titled album on influential label Epic Records. While promoting the album in 1992, de la Rocha explained to the Los Angeles Times his mission for the group. â€Å"I wanted to think of something metaphorically that would describe my frustrations toward America, toward this capitalist system and how it has enslaved and exploited and created a very unjust situation for a lot of people,† he said. The message resonated with the public. The album went triple platinum. It included references to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, South African apartheid, a Eurocentric educational curriculum, Fand other social issues. The band’s sophomore album Evil Empire, a reference to a Ronald Reagan speech on the Cold War, touched on de la Rocha’s Hispanic heritage with songs such as â€Å"People of the Sun,† â€Å"Down Rodeo† and â€Å"Without a Face.† Evil Empire also achieved triple platinum status. The band’s last two albums the Battle of Los Angeles (1999) and Renegades (2000), went double platinum and platinum, respectively. Although Rage Against the Machine was undoubtedly one of the most influential bands of the 1990s, de la Rocha decided to leave the band in October 2000. He cited creative differences but stressed that he was pleased with what the band had accomplished.​​​ I am extremely proud of our work, both as activists and musicians, as well as indebted and grateful to every person who has expressed solidarity and shared this incredible experience with us, he said in a statement. A New Chapter Almost seven years after the breakup, Rage Against the Machine fans received some long-awaited news: the band was reuniting. The group performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., in April 2007. The reason for the reunion? The band said it felt compelled to speak out in light of  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Bush administration policies they found intolerable. Since the reunion, the band has yet to release more albums. The members are involved in independent projects. De la Rocha, for one, performs in the group One Day as a Lion with former Mars Volta member Jon Theodore. The band released a self-titled EP in 2008 and performed at Coachella in 2011.​ Musician-activist de la Rocha also launched an organization called Sound Strike in 2010. The organization encourages musicians to boycott Arizona in light of the state’s controversial legislation targeting undocumented immigrants. In a Huffington Post piece, de la Rocha and Salvador Reza said of the strike: â€Å"The human impact of what is happening to immigrants and their families in Arizona calls into question the same moral and ethical imperatives that the civil rights movement did. Are we all equal before the law? To what extent can states and local law enforcement officers engage in human and civil rights violations against an ethnic group that has been completely vilified in the eyes of the white political majority?†

Racism At The Institute On Race And Poverty - 1344 Words

Jordan Reber Mr. Bergmann Senior English P3 28 August 2015 Racism in America According to the Institute on Race and Poverty (IRP) in 2000 a white individual making the same income annually as any other race has a seventy-eight percent chance of owning a home, and only a twenty-two percent chance of having their credit denied on a loan, however, minorities like Blacks and Hispanics have a significantly lower chance of both. (Lawrence, and Keleher 3). In fact, Blacks with those same specifications only have a forty-eight percent chance to own a home, and an astounding forty-five percent chance to have their credit denied on a loan. Meanwhile, Hispanics have a forty-six percent chance to own a home, and a thirty-percent percent chance of having their credit denied. While this may seem overtly discriminatory with just a glance, one must first delve into what those numbers actually mean, and the details went into creating those numbers, as well as take a peek into the institution that created those numbers before jumping to the conclusion that it is empirically racist. Recently, racism has exploded into the spotlight worldwide, and especially in the United States of America with stories of racially motivated police brutality and a supposed â€Å"race war† taking center stage. All this coming forty-seven years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sought to end racial tension and racist governmentShow MoreRelatedRace Class Gender 456 Final Exam1311 Words   |  6 PagesL.ADKINS RCG 456 FINAL EXAM L. Adkins Race Class Gender 456 Final Exam Laura Adkins DSU Student â€Æ' L. Adkins Race Class Gender 456 Final Exam 1. Elaborate Noel’s theory on the contact situation of race relations (20 pts). Sociologist Donald Noel’s hypotheses state, â€Å"If two or more groups come together in a contact situation characterized by ethnocentrism, competition, and a differential in power, then some form of racial or ethnic stratification will result (Healey O Brien, 2015, p. 104)Read MoreThe Role Of Institutional Racism During Bridging The Racial Divide1731 Words   |  7 PagesThe role of institutional racism in bridging the racial divide There is now an African-American president in the White House and there is now no visible trace of slavery in America. Racism, in the eyes of the majority is nonexistent. There is a wide assumption that minorities, especially blacks have progressed to the point where job and income equality is no longer a debate. The majority does not think of racism as a serious problem just because enough progress had been madeRead MoreRacism And Racism Essay971 Words   |  4 PagesIs it racism or economics which hinders many African American communities from progressing economically in the 21st Century? This research proposal will address this question by examining the social and psychological impact caused by racism and the economic impact it’s had on the African American community. This proposal will further investigate whether the emotional scars of slavery continue to hamper African American progress or if racism is actually the cause. The economic cost of discriminationRead MoreRacial Discrimination Against Minorities Within The American Workforce Essay1677 Words   |  7 Pageswithin the American workforce is evident. Structural racism is the cause of why qualified minorities lacking opportunities, while lesser-qualified White-Americans are hired. This paper will discuss what structural racism is, how it plays into racial discrimination against qualifieded minorities, what can be done to prevent further racial profiling, and briefly touch on the adverse effects racial prejudice has on the economy. Keywords: structural racism, qualified minorities, racial discrimination DemographicsRead MoreRacism Is Defined As An Ideology Of Racial Superiority1384 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Racism is defined as an ideology of racial superiority followed by discriminatory and prejudicial behavior. Racism can come in many forms such as racial profiling; hating someone for the color of their skin, workplace discrimination, and the stereotypical notion that one race has superior work ethics than another. No matter the origin, racism can have long lasting effects on its victims and the community. We will look how the psychological impact of racism affects the victim mentallyRead MoreBrown vs. Board of Education: Case Study1745 Words   |  7 Pagesviolates the Fourteenth Amendment rights of individuals. The Fourteenth Amendment ensures equal access to services and equal protection under the law. In the words of the court: Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal. The word tangible is used because when the case was argued in the Topeka courtroom, the judgeRead MoreThe Documentary Crude, By Joe Berlinger1371 Words   |  6 Pages grocery delivery company FreshDirect began plans to build their new headquarters and a fueling station along the South Bronx waterfront, a district which is 39% Black and 60% Hispanic according to the Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems. Environmental racism is usually not the overt racism, discrimination, or stereotyping that is splayed out across the media through newspapers and television screens, attracting national attention. Instead, it is more subtle and hidden, such as the placementRead MoreAn Article Published By Arthur C. Brooks, A Writer For1697 Words   |  7 Pagessocial mobility. African Americans who are born in the bottom quintile of the wealth distribution â€Å"have a 50% chance of being stuck at the bottom and a 4% chance of making it all the way up to the top.† (Is America 1:40-2:48). Because of underlying racism and environmental factors, African Americans are not as socially mobile as the white majority in America. In an article which proves the barriers limiting success for immigrants, Zenen Jaimes Perez explains that undocumented immigrants’ â€Å"path to higherRead MoreDifferent Types of Racial Discrimination Essay2563 Words   |  11 Pages What is racism and does it still exist? According to Merriam Dictionary, racism is â€Å"a belief that is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.† Every day, many people experience the harsh act of racism in different forms such as: racial slurs, harassment, or through more obvious acts which are the effects of institutional racist practices. However, something really easy to pin point is that these actsRead MoreA Brief Note On Reverse Racism And Affirmative Action1699 Words   |  7 PagesWe often hear people say things like â€Å"Oh, this person only got into that university because of they’re black† or â€Å"that person only got the promotion because people feel sorry for him or her.† This is a classic example of reverse racism. The most common case of reverse racism is when Caucasian people claim that policies like affirmative action gives people of color an advantage over them. However this is not true at all; what affirmative action was meant to do is allow minorities an equal opportunity

Gender Socialization by the Toy Industry Free Essays

The message of gender socialization being imposed upon young children subliminally becomes quite obvious when one observes the Wal-Mart toy department from an unbiased viewpoint. Normally when I venture into the toy department, which is almost always against my will, I’m on a swift mission. Find a toy to reward my 3 year old nephew with after a good week of daycare and get the heck out of there. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Socialization by the Toy Industry or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, when you’re child free and walking the aisles, you become bombarded with gender driven propaganda. You enter an aisle that might as well say â€Å"For Boys Only† at the entrance. Taking a look around you see cars and trucks packaged in oversized, brightly or dark colored boxes splattered with images of little boys happily playing with the toy all over the box. You pass fire trucks, police cars, race tracks, cowboys, astronauts and construction toys, all clearly portraying them as â€Å"Boys Toys† so vividly all they’re missing is a button one can push that will shout â€Å"This is so not for girls! On a trip to the next aisle over you become overwhelmed by bright pink or pastel boxes, decorated with flower images or sparkly pictures of little girls playing with the toy. You pass Barbie with her plastic blonde hair and plastic blue eyes, next to her obviously less popular brunette friend, Teresa. Clearly this shows little girls what the â€Å"ideal gorgeous woman† should look like. Barbie shows a woman can conquer the world if she’s wearing the r ight outfit. She can be a CEO, flight attendant, lawyer, nurse, doctor, dancer, princess or astronaut and all she has to do is stand still, look pretty, have monstrously oversized breasts, and wear the right clothes. Who really wants their daughter to believe this is the ticket to success? You see the Easy Bake Oven with a big glossy picture of two young girls baking a small desert. You see tea sets and baby dolls and all you come to find is that girls are being subliminally trained they are to be subservient, attractive, domestic and beautiful. They should be demure, domestic, and trained to raise children. I left the toy section a little nauseous. As a child I was given Hot Wheels cars and Barbie’s. I had a black big wheel with flames on it and an Easy Bake Oven. I had an ant farm and a doll house next to each other in my childhood bedroom, and I think I turned out alright. It’s sad to see children’s genders being shoved down their throats by propaganda, especially now that we have male nurses and women in congress; however, pink is for girls and blue is for boys according to the advertising and toy industries, and I doubt that will ever change. How to cite Gender Socialization by the Toy Industry, Papers