Killing In the Name

from the LP Rage Against the Machine, Epic Records, 1992



Today marks the 39^th anniversary of the Ohio State National Guard’s massacre of college students at Kent State University, an event which fewer and fewer kids these days have even heard about, let alone been taught about. Historians always like debating when the “real” death of the ‘60s took place: was it the Chicago riots of ’68 and the general tumult of that year, or the Manson family slayings in California, or perhaps the disaster of Altamonte…? As far as I’m concerned, the figurative and literal death of the New Left and all their glorious ideals took place on that college campus in May of 1970. When a population understands that their country’s governmental forces, supposedly there to protect them, are willing to turn the guns on unarmed civilian students…well, where else do you go from there?! There has never again been any major campus-based antiwar movement, certainly no SDS or organizations like it, since those times---try convincing a modern-day 18 year old that a little unrest is worth their life…hell, they wouldn’t even risk the loss of their iPod or cellphone in most cases. One group that has always carried the torch of resistance is Rage Against the Machine, and the first time I heard this album it was like a fucking revolution in my mind!! Bands rarely merge the vibe of their lyrics with the ambience of their sound in such a picture perfect manner, and all the fury & resentment in Zach’s words certainly needed a suitably loud and aggressive soundtrack underneath. Everything they did was message forward: their music videos, the album cover here (taking influence from early ‘80s hardcore-punk cover photos), all the sociological and geo-political information on the inside of the album; I remember dutifully writing to many the organizations and causes listed within, Amnesty International, Leonard Peltier, Greenpeace, et al. These guys weren’t fooled by the economic boom times in which they recorded and released their music, since the country was barely out from under the 12-year run of Reagan and Bush-the-first; in fact, many of the gripes and rants on this and subsequent Rage albums have been proven clairvoyant in light of the last decade’s events. I saw these guys in concert in Atlanta, summer of ’97, the first summer in over 2 years when I wasn’t locked up---those of you who know me can probably imagine the look on my face and feeling in my body that day, getting to be free again and singing along to the songs they played, choking down tears and some of the first weed I had smoked in a while. “FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME…FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!!” Long live skepticism & curiosity, long live rebellion, and may those murdered at Kent State one day find justice.