If you've been missing the activism of Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, you've been missing a serious contributor to dialogue in this country about class, race and the future.
Morello was recently asked about his views about President Obama. He remarked that they had a lot in common: a Kenyan father, a white American mother and a Harvard degree. Beyond that, he didn't have anything to say.
His great song, "Black Spartacus Heart Attack Machine," explains his refusal to tie Obama's electoral fate to our own:
"History's not made
By presidents or popes
Or kings or queens or generals
Or CIA kingpins runnin' dope
History's not made
By nine robed men
Or billionaires
It's not made by them"
Morello has played for Wisconsin capitol rebels and the NATO refuseniks in Chicago. He can always be seen wearing either his IWW cap or his IWW t-shirt.
"I was driven from the city, in the wilderness I stand
In the cleansing rain in silence, I made my battle plan
I will whisper words of freedom, I will swing hard as I can
Lord knows the time has come and save the hammer for the man"
"Save the Hammer for The Man"
Here's a few YouTube's of his activist songs:
Diary dedicated to ActivistGuy. Hope he's feeling better.