Rage Against the Machine, Cypress Hill, Kanye West, Sonic Youth, Massive Attack, Ozomatli, and Los Tigres del Norte are just a handful of the bands who have announced a boycott of the state of Arizona, in protest of their new anti-immigration law SB 1070. They explain their reasons at the new website TheSoundStrike.net:
“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…
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…
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!”
The website urges other like-minded bands to join the boycott and for everyone to sign a petition opposing SB 1070.
Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello and Serj Tankian. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans
of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. 
dear friends, we latins are concerned about whats happening in the border and also about new immigrant(anti-immigrant)laws. I`m using this blank space that you gladly provide to write THAT MEXICANS, OLD AND YOUNG, MEN AND WOMEN , WE WANT PEACE JUSTICE AND EQUALITY!!!!
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
How is the AZ law racist??? They are only trying to curb ILLEGAL immigration, NOT legal! Also, people have to be suspected of commiting some other type of crime before being stopped by police. How is that profiling? Open your minds folks. And if you want to learn about TRUE prejudice and racial profiling based on country of origin, research the early American immigrants who came from various European countries. Wake up people!
How do you know if someone is legal or illegal? The part where the police have to pull you over for something else was added just because there was so much commotion. What are the ways a police officer verifies if you are indeed legal? Once the police officers deem you as illegal than what?
Is it right to use the immigrants for really cheap labor and then when times get tough throw the blame on the voiceless? I believe it is important for us not to fall in the trap of blaming a certain “people” for our troubled economy and take responsibility.
The only thing I don’t understand is how depriving fans of the greatest outlet for dealing with such injustice and hatred helps. I think it would be even better if u came here and RAGED AGAINST THE FUCKING MACHINE. You would receive ample support. I get that you don’t want to contribute to AZ’s economy, but there has to be a way …………………..
Wow, when arresting someone the aspect of checking to see if they’re illegally or not has just been compared to Rosa Parks.
The left has really gone off the rails.
BTW, Tom, no one’s stopping you from paying the tax rates that you wish you were paying. Man up.
Hi. I live in Arizona. The SB1070 law is in outrage. It’s signed into law by some of the most corrupt people in American politics that’s right, the AZ scare machine dominated by the right-wingers. These people tend to blame all of the problems of the country on the weak when they should be looking at themselves.
One thing some of you don’t realize is that the way how the SB1070 law was originally written, it has changed a bunch of times includes a clause about the police asking people their immigration status on any “legal” stop. Does anyone realize what this means, or is it just me and many of the police that don’t want to enforce the law?
Or what about the clause that would allow citizens the right to sue the police if they feel they didn’t apply a racist law against someone else. So tell me it’s not racist? Arizona is so chock full of illegal Canadians… we all know who will be “stopped”. It’s going to be the Hispanic people (whether they are legal citizens or not, or from Mexico or other places or not).
I did hear a rumor that Rage Against the Machine is going to come to AZ, but I do not know if that will happen or not. If it does and I have enough money I will support the band(s) that come to AZ.
BTW I am happy for all the boycotting. Maybe it will hurt the business leaders if Arizona where it hurts them the most, money. While it sucks for all the rest of us, let’s face it AZ’s economy is sucky, but maybe them losing money will make them realize that it’s a bad idea to scare away mostly legal citizens from our state.
A lot of the “illegals” aren’t living in Arizona as harassment has happened in the past here and continues to this day without the SB1070 to legalize racial profiling. For those who don’t believe me, I drive on Interstate 17 all the time and have witnessed many police stops often with 4-6 officers and one person who looks Hispanic. While I have a need for speed I am usually left alone (I do keep it at 85 which is 10 over the speed limit on most of the stretches of I-17 I drive on!)
Last thought, AZ’s SB1070 is not the right answer to the problem. Please keep up the pressure, and my final though is!!!!!
Governor Jan Brewer wasn’t even elected she became Governor when Janet Napolitano resigned to become the Director of Homeland Security. She signed this bill into law to get herself elected to Governor and that my friends is dishonest and pandering to a small minority of people. The polls have not bothered to call me yet, so I know I am one of many people that actually live in Arizona that DO not support SB1070.
PAF
Why are Arizona music fans being punished for what our governor did. We did not elect Jan Brewer or vote for SB1070, so why are we being punished. If ANY of these musicians actually cared they would be organizing protests to fight the law not punishing music fans. The governor doesn’t care if any band plays in AZ, she is a conservative idiot. We the fans have supported you in the form of buying your records and paying for tickets to shows for many years but apparently that doesn’t matter. Well until you play in Arizona again I won’t be giving you another dime, and I am encouraging the same from everyone I know. Instead of punishing us why don’t you come and help us protest what is happening. Boycotting is easy and ineffective, try doing something and helping us fight!! The cities of Flagstaff and Tucson are suing over SB1070, so instead of punishing your fans come help us by fighting side by side with us. I thought it was rage against the machine not
Rage Against The FANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!