Members of the band, which has long been known for the anti-authority stance as well as its music’s political text messages, didn’t give impassioned speeches on the initial stop of their re-union tour — vocalist Zack de una Rocha and his team simply rocked while a giant screen to their rear did the speaking.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Piet Levy, on hand to examine the show, filmed the segment of the live concert where de la Rocha repeatedly screamed “freedom” while a video display flashed with claims about gun assault, Black maternal fatality and abortion access.
“Forced birth inside a country that is the only wealthy country on earth with no guaranteed paid parental leave at the national degree, ” read the display screen for several seconds, based on Levy’s video.
“Forced birth in a country where Black birth-givers experience maternal fatality two to three times greater than that of white birth-givers, ” the display read afterwards, citing a statistic from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
The screen then read: “Forced birth in a country where weapon violence is the number 1 cause of death among children and teenagers, ” a mention of the recent findings through health nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation and an article within the New England Journal of Medicine that firearms are the current leading cause of death for children and teens in the US.
The ultimate message was short but clear: “ABORT THE SUPREME COURT. ” Many target audience members erupted in to cheers.
For some of the show, guitarist Tom Morello furthermore wore a tee shirt that read “I [Heart] CRT, ” a reference to critical race theory, a good educational lens that incorporates the history of racism and inequality into American history lessons, Rolling Stone reported.
Trend Against the Machine’s anti-establishment music, which criticizes wealth inequality, racism and powerful organizations, has become their personal. One of the group’s most well-known songs, “Killing in the Name, ” had been inspired by the beating associated with Rodney King at the hands of La police and the protests against police violence that followed.