Zack de la Rocha

Zack de la Rocha (Lastfm (zdlr))

"Brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hi-jacked. Brothers and sisters, all of our total freedom in this country is over, so long as it is controlled by corporations. Brothers and sisters, we are not going to allow these streets to be taken over by the Democrats or the Republicans!" -Zack de la Rocha

Zack de la Rocha is a human rights activist, poet, and musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and frontman of the rebellious rock band Rage Against the Machine. As well as creating great music, Zack influences people and leads them to revolt against things that are wrong and fight for their rights, which is why I believe he is a hero.

Zack had a difficult home life, at a very young age his parents got divorced and he was left living only with his mother. Also, Zack was a Mexican-American who lived in Irving, which has a reputation for racial conflict. At a young age, Zack became a vegetarian because of his beliefs about animal rights. But this was only the start of the activism for him.

After being in multiple punk bands as a teenager, including a hardcore band called Inside Out which has a substantial underground following, Zack ended up in Rage Against the Machine, which was a politically-driven rap metal group which has massive success worldwide. Rage was known as one of the biggest voices of activism in the music scene, and they did all they could do to help out while still creating great and meaningful music.

De la Rocha says he is interested in spreading his ideas through art, and he does not take that lightly. All the music created by the band is influenced by their political beliefs and the bands is very leftist. Zack and the band have been involved with countless protests, including the anti- Arpaio protest against the Sheriff, storming the doors of the New York Stock Exchange, and the Occupy Wall Street movement, where he shared a poem. Zack is also an active member of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, and has written songs and asked his music label to support that cause. They held a free protest concert against the two-party system in September 2008 which quickly became violent, and were meant to hold another one except they were arrested by riot police and not allowed to perform their set. Although, in the end despite what the authorities did, the band went onstage and played two of their songs a cappella, screaming into megaphones. They played another set the day after, and commenced the show by standing onstage quietly in Guantanamo Bay prisoner uniforms. This set also ended with riot police and arrests.

They continued the fight to close Guantanamo Prison. Using their headlining slot at the massive Reading Music Festival, the band started the show the same way they did in their September show, but this time adding the sound of a prison Klaxon and in front of a way bigger audience. Their anger became deeper when they found out their music, along with the music of bands such as Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam, was being used to torture prisoners. It was used as a method of torture by being played to the prisoners endlessly for 72 hours at an almost deafening volume. The band states that is made them sick that their music was being used to hurt someone, and was being used as a tool by the people they were fighting against.

They also came out against the Parents Music Resource Centre by refusing to play their show at a big music festival and instead standing onstage naked with PMRC written on their bodies. Parents Music Resource Center was a group aimed at making music with swear words, drug references or sexual references less accessible to children. Many benefit concerts were held by the band, for multiple organizations. They used almost every live show they performed to help show their support for a cause, even if it was just as small as putting on a MST support hat for one show in Brazil or posting a photo aimed at clothing company Guess because they use sweatshops to make their clothing.

The reason I think Zack de la Rocha is a hero, is because he is the voice of a group of men that dedicate their lives to making music and bettering the world. He is brave because he faces a lot of danger voicing such strong opinions, and he is brave because he defies authorities if he knows he is doing it for the right reasons. Also, Zach is a musical and poetic inspiration, and an extremely intelligent man. This is why Zack de la Rocha is my hero.