Rage Against the Machine details the sad American story behind his 1991 hymn, “Killing in the Name”, in a new mini documentary.
The 15-minute film Killing in your name, a collaboration with the arts collective O Ummah Chroma, features a teacher educating a small group of students about “the fiction known as whiteness”, as well as the history of racial and social oppression in the United States. The mini-doc also features quotes from historians like Howard Zinn and live footage of Rage Against the Machine playing the track, which bizarrely became a pro-Trump rallying cry after the 2020 presidential election.
“Living in the United States, you are living in one of the most brutal societies in the history of the world,” says Zack de la Rocha in an archive interview within the film.
“The country that inherited the genocide of the Native American people. A country that participated in slavery. Any society, government or system established exclusively to profit from a wealthy class, while the majority of people toil, suffer and sell their labor force, as long as the only real reason for this system is profit and not the maintenance and improvement of the population. , to meet human needs, then this society should not stay. It must be challenged, questioned and brought down. “
“My mom [Mary Morello] she is a white woman with a radical voice, ”says guitarist Tom Morello in the film. “For three decades she was a progressive teacher at a conservative college, inspiring students to challenge the system – in her actions and words, she always taught that racism should never be ignored and must always be confronted.” Morello also detailed the birth of the song in an interview with Rolling Stone Music Now.
The long-awaited 2020 “Public Service Announcement” meeting tour – a planned preparation for the presidential election – has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic; rescheduled dates have not yet been announced.