Zack de la Rocha
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha[1] (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine.[2][3] Through both Rage Against the Machine and his activism, de la Rocha promotes left-wing politics in opposition to corporate America, the military-industrial complex, and government oppression.[4]
Zack de la Rocha
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha
January 12, 1970
Long Beach, California, U.S.
- Musician
- rapper
- singer
- songwriter
- activist
- Vocals
- guitar
- drums
- keyboards
- jarana jarocha
1988–present
Early life[edit]
De la Rocha was born in Long Beach, California, on January 12, 1970, to Robert "Beto" de la Rocha and Olivia Lorryne Carter.[5] His father is a Mexican-American,[6] with African and Sephardi Jewish heritage,[7][8] while his mother was born to Manuel García Urias, a Mexican-American, and Olive Pearl Fleming, who was of German and Irish heritage.[9][10] Beto was a muralist and a member of Los Four, the first Chicano art collective to be exhibited at a museum (LACMA, 1973). De la Rocha's great grandfather, Jose Isaac de la Rocha Acosta (1882–1920), was a Mexican revolutionary who fought in the Mexican Revolution. His grandfather Isaac de la Rocha (1909–1985) was an agricultural laborer in the U.S. De La Rocha would later see the hardships his grandfather endured reflected in the struggles of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.[11]
De la Rocha's parents divorced when he was six, and he moved from East Los Angeles to Irvine with his mother, who attended the University of California, Irvine and earned a PhD in anthropology.[12] De la Rocha later described Irvine as "one of the most racist cities imaginable" and said that "if you were a Mexican in Irvine, you were there because you had a broom or a hammer in your hand."[13]
Musical career[edit]
Early career[edit]
De la Rocha met Tim Commerford in elementary school, and in junior high school, they both played guitar in a band called Juvenile Expression. De la Rocha's interest in punk rock bands like The Clash, The Misfits, Sex Pistols, and Bad Religion turned into an appreciation for other bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and The Teen Idles. In 1987, he joined the straight edge band Hard Stance. In 2018, Indecision Records officially released Hard Stance's entire discography.[14]
Activism[edit]
De la Rocha advocates in favor of Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the Zapatista (EZLN) movement in Mexico. He spoke on the floor of the UN, testifying against the United States and its treatment of Abu-Jamal.[41] De la Rocha has been particularly outspoken on the cause of the EZLN. De la Rocha and Rage Against The Machine hosted a benefit show in January 1999 alongside the Beastie Boys to raise attention towards Abu-Jamal's case. The concert was mired in controversy as New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman denounced the show and encouraged people not to attend; the show ultimately sold out.[42]
Zack's Chicano identity informed his band's commitment to what they view as the struggles of immigrants, people of color, and the Zapatistas. He renamed the People's Resource Center in Highland Park to the "Centro de Regeneracion".[43] There, many of the same artists and activists who had participated in the struggle over the Peace and Justice Center maintained their commitment to providing youth a space for cultural expression and training. Along with music workshops and the development of Radio Clandestina, Centro members also organized graffiti workshops and youth film festivals. The Centro lasted only two years; within that timespan it was viewed by its members and staff as an important space in the ongoing institutionalization of the community politics, cultural practices, and social networks of the Eastside scene in the nineties.
The EZLN and de la Rocha's experiences with them inspired the songs "People of the Sun", "Wind Below" and "Without a Face" from Evil Empire,[44] and "War Within a Breath" from The Battle of Los Angeles. Zack de la Rocha asked their record label, Epic Records, for $30,000 to donate to the EZLN.[45] It is not known if they complied. The EZLN flag has been used as a stage backdrop at all of the band's shows since their reunion in April 2007. On his post-Rage political music, de la Rocha admitted that it was near impossible for him to draw the line between politics and music.
On April 14, 2007, Morello and de la Rocha reunited on-stage early to perform a brief acoustic set at House of Blues in Chicago at the rally for fair food with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Morello described the event as "very exciting for everybody in the room, myself included". At Rage's first reunion show, de la Rocha made a speech during "Wake Up" in which de la Rocha called numerous American presidents war criminals, citing a statement by Noam Chomsky regarding the Nuremberg Principles.[46]
Like bandmate Tom Morello, Zack de la Rocha is vegetarian. In an interview, he stated, "I think vegetarianism is really great, and I stand really strongly behind it. I think that an animal goes through a lot of pain in the whole cycle of death in the slaughterhouse; just living to be killed. I just don't think it's worth eating that animal. There's so much other food out there that doesn't have to involve you in that cycle of pain and death."[47]
In November 2023, de la Rocha attended a pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, D.C. and signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[48][49]