65 replies to this topic

[Jacki O.]

Zack de la Rocha's Sound Strike - Artists officially boycotting Arizona to protest against SB1070

from the website:

PRESS RELEASE
Los Angeles, California, May 25, 2010

We are reaching out to get your ear for a minute about this critical situation in Arizona.

If you haven't heard, the Arizona state legislature passed a bill (SB 1070) that was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer that legalizes and sanctions racial profiling. Straight up.

It forces the cops to hunt down and target anyone they "reasonably suspect" that may be undocumented. And if the people they harass don't have proof that they were born in the U.S., they can be detained and arrested. This must be stopped.

Fans of our music, our stories, our films and our words can be pulled over and harassed every day because they are brown or black, or for the way they speak, or for the music they listen to. People who are poor like some of us used to be could be forced to live in a constant state of fear while just doing what they can to find work and survive. This law opens the door for them to be shaked down, or even worse, detained and deported while just trying to travel home from school, from home to work, or when they just roll out with their friends.

Some of us grew up dealing with racial profiling, but this law (SB 1070) takes it to a whole new low. If other states follow the direction of the Arizona government, we could be headed towards a pre-civil rights era reality. This unjust law was set into motion by the same Arizona government that refused to acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. day as a national holiday.

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, they arrested her. As a result, people got together and said we are not going to ride the bus until they change the law. It was this courageous action that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. What if we got together, signed a collective letter saying, "we're not going to ride the bus", saying we are not going to comply. We are not going to play in Arizona. We are going to boycott Arizona!

Signed,

Zack de la Rocha

Here's a list of the courageous artists who have taken a stand for civil and human rights in this collective decision to boycott Arizona:

Cypress Hill
Juanes
Conor Oberst
Los Tigres del Norte
Rage Against the Machine
Cafe Tacvba
Micheal Moore
Kanye West
Calle 13
Joe Satriani
Serj Tankian
Rise Against
Ozomatli
Sabertooth Tiger
Massive Attack
One Day as a Lion
Street Sweeper Social Club
Spank Rock
Sonic Youth
Tenacious D


and Billboard magazine has a new interview with De la Rocha in which he speaks about a new concert he is organizing to protest sb1070:

"In the coming weeks we are going to be organizing a series of concerts that are respectful of the nature of the boycott in its attempts to isolate the Arizona government but not isolate the people, and especially the organizations that are fighting this on the ground," de la Rocha said in a telephone interview. "Many of us have begun to plan concerts that include bands that have signed on the Sound Strike, and make tickets available so that people within Arizona can come and see these concerts as they roll out. These are things that are being set into motion right now - a series of concerts or maybe even one giant concert in late July."



De la Rocha says that "there's a strong chance" Rage Against the Machine will play one or more of the concerts.

[MikeyWretch]

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[Jacki O.]

While many artists and musicians are supporting the boycott, some in the Arizona music community have questioned the approach, insisting that fans and promoters alike are being unjustly punished. In an open letter to the participating artists, Arizona-based concert promoter Charlie Levy of Stateside Presents urged them to reconsider. "By not performing in Arizona, artists are harming the very people and places that foster free speech and the open exchange of ideas that serve to counter the closed-mindedness recently displayed by the new law," he wrote. "The people who will feel the negative effects of the boycott the deepest are local concert venues, including non-profit art house theatres, independent promoters, motivated fans, and the hundreds of people employed in the local music business. If the boycott continues, it is all but guaranteed that some of these venues will be forced to close their doors."

But de la Rocha disagrees, and promises musicians will return to Arizona in force if their effort is successful.

"Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature have created an environment in Arizona where performing is no longer a neutral act," he said. "They have created an environment where they can convert the the normal commercial interaction between artists and their fans into the means to apply this racist law. The relationship between musicians and artists and fans can best be served by standing for human rights and when we prevent this law from coming into action and continue to fight it even if it is enacted, when its removed from the books we're going to have an unbelievable concert - it will be the celebration to end all celebrations."


hmm
yeah i dont know. i dont know what will work. i do feel like everyone in the country hates az and thinks we're all racist crazies. i feel isolated and helpless. i would rather have rage against the machine come to phx and play a free concert on the park in front of the capital building and push people to fight this government in different ways (civil disobedience, spreading information etc.) than to not come here at all.

and if legislation like this gets passed in other states, is this group just going to continue to boycott those other states?

i just dont see how Sonic Youth not playing at the Marquee Theater this year is going to hurt Russell Pearce or Jan Brewer or the people and organizations that helped them get elected in the first place.

but perhaps like Mikey and Noam Chomsky have stated, we need to rely on ourselves and we all need to become activists in this state.

[MikeyWretch]

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[mancopter]

While many artists and musicians are supporting the boycott, some in the Arizona music community have questioned the approach, insisting that fans and promoters alike are being unjustly punished. In an open letter to the participating artists, Arizona-based concert promoter Charlie Levy of Stateside Presents urged them to reconsider. "By not performing in Arizona, artists are harming the very people and places that foster free speech and the open exchange of ideas that serve to counter the closed-mindedness recently displayed by the new law," he wrote. "The people who will feel the negative effects of the boycott the deepest are local concert venues, including non-profit art house theatres, independent promoters, motivated fans, and the hundreds of people employed in the local music business. If the boycott continues, it is all but guaranteed that some of these venues will be forced to close their doors."

But de la Rocha disagrees, and promises musicians will return to Arizona in force if their effort is successful.

"Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature have created an environment in Arizona where performing is no longer a neutral act," he said. "They have created an environment where they can convert the the normal commercial interaction between artists and their fans into the means to apply this racist law. The relationship between musicians and artists and fans can best be served by standing for human rights and when we prevent this law from coming into action and continue to fight it even if it is enacted, when its removed from the books we're going to have an unbelievable concert - it will be the celebration to end all celebrations."

I'm not convinced De La Rocha's statement was actually a response to Charlie's. He didn't even address the same issues. Just seemed like the reporter was making a "debate" using existing quotes.

Soooo, I'm calling bullshit on the article.

[joe.distort]

i just dont see how Sonic Youth not playing at the Marquee Theater this year is going to hurt Russell Pearce or Jan Brewer or the people and organizations that helped them get elected in the first place.

yep. its another one of those 'political' things that requires nothing but a statement so they can all pat each other on their backs about how they 'spoke out'. Zach at least gets out in the streets here, and i actually respect him for that, but almost all of that lsit of boycotters are full of shit.

my favorite is Spank Rock- arent they from England? were they setting up a tour all of a sudden? i didnt think they were even together anymore. whatever.

[differently biotic]

such bullshit. It's like the lazy way to protest. Those artists not coming here.. that isn't going to make a difference. Not one bit. If anything, most of the people who support SB1070 don't even like any of those artists anyway. hahahaha

The ones being punished are the fans that live here that probably have the same politival view as the artist boycotting the state.

lazy and Mikey has a point the getting press.

[innerear]

I agree with the boycott.
You people seem to forgot that although your close nit like minded friends are all opposed to this bill the majority of the state is actually for it. Just like many black artist in the 60s boycotted many of the southern states, and many bands boycotted South Carolina in the late 90s for flying the confederate flag, I think it makes sense. If I didn't live here I would boycott us. We are the minority on this.
And for it being an easy protest, If you have ever done any extensive touring you will realize there are large gaps between cities in the southwest and taking out an entire state make those gaps even larger. Which really means you're gonna have to have no shows for a day or maybe two. Even for a large band taking a day or two off means losing money for a day or two.

[P xDITIx]

A band called los faggots is boycotting. The Ironing!

[MikeyWretch]

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[jeremx]

rage against the machine? more like inaction against the machine. am i right? am i right? probably not.. but yeah, definitely a whole lot of "we did something here" when you did nothing at all.

[joe.distort]

If you have ever done any extensive touring you will realize there are large gaps between cities in the southwest and taking out an entire state make those gaps even larger. Which really means you're gonna have to have no shows for a day or maybe two. Even for a large band taking a day or two off means losing money for a day or two.

not if they set up the tour around this. its not like they are just going to specifically schedule a day off just to drive through...im sure their booking agents are well aware of what they are doing. there are tours that do this all the time for non-political reasons, after all.

[MikeyWretch]

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[Tony]

I agree with the boycott.
You people seem to forgot that although your close nit like minded friends are all opposed to this bill the majority of the state is actually for it. Just like many black artist in the 60s boycotted many of the southern states, and many bands boycotted South Carolina in the late 90s for flying the confederate flag, I think it makes sense. If I didn't live here I would boycott us. We are the minority on this.
And for it being an easy protest, If you have ever done any extensive touring you will realize there are large gaps between cities in the southwest and taking out an entire state make those gaps even larger. Which really means you're gonna have to have no shows for a day or maybe two. Even for a large band taking a day or two off means losing money for a day or two.

so did south carolina stop flying the confederate flag on account of a band boycott?

i'm not saying boycotting a state is an "easy" thing to do - although i don't think i'd ever talk about it like it was some courageous act of protest - but if a band wanted to make a statement they'd play the show and do their best to get people here motivated to act. governor brewer doesn't give a shit if conor oberst boycotts the state. that's not going to change her mind or anyone elses.

also, and i can't prove this, but i'd be willing to bet that black artists in the 60's boycotting the south was as much about safety as it was about making a political statement. should we play in alabama and get harassed, and possibly put ourselves in physical danger, or should we just boycott the state? seems like a no-brainer.

[donald]

I will state that I am against boycotts against the state due to sb1070 (although, I am all about boycotting companies financing Russel Pearce or anyone advocating sb1070), I want to state that now so there are no misconceptions on what I have to say next.


I would like to think, that the point of the "Sound Strike", besides the patting each other on the back for not playing in AZ of said bands, is to get people pissed off and make people do something.

I see people getting upset about the bands not performing here, now do something about it!
If you are pissed that bands are boycotting AZ, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

I have been sending emails to people, I have been tweeting and blogging, I have been going to marches, because I am fucking pissed about the shit that is going on.

Kimber organized the S.O.S. Congress sunday morning, 500-700 people were expected to show up. 200 did. I was amazed with all the scenesters that were there, how many DIDN'T show up.

So if you truly don't like the fact that a band is not playing in AZ because of the bill, let's do something besides bitch about it, and actually do something to help make this bill go away

If you have been doing what you can to show your discontent, then these words are not for you.


I have no control over Zach and his initiatives, but I definitely have control over mine.