The theme for Black History Month 2022 is February and Forever: Celebrating Black History today and every day. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the Black community and reflect on experiences and accomplishments. So all month we’re highlighting some of the iconic black artists who’ve changed rock n’ roll.

Today we take a look at American musician, songwriter, actor and political activist: Tom Morello

“I am enormously proud to be an American. I would say that the things that our corporate-controlled government has done at best are shameful and at worst genocidal-but there’s an incredible and a permanent culture of resistance in this country that I’m very proud to be a part of. It’s not the tradition of slave-owning founding fathers, it’s the tradition of the Frederick Douglasses, the Underground Railroads, the Chief Josephs, the Joe Hills, and the Huey P. Newtons. There’s so much to be proud of when you’re American that’s hidden from you. The incredible courage and bravery of the union organizers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s-that’s amazing. People of get tricked into going overseas and fighting Uncle Sam’s Wall Street wars, but these are people who knew what they were fighting for here at home. I think that that’s so much more courageous and brave.” – Tom Morello

After growing up in Libertyville, Illinois, Morello moved to Harlem, New York, where he began to study music and politics in high school. Alumnus of Harvard University, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies.

In the mid 1980’s, Morello would form his first band Lock up but would disband in 1990. Following the disbanding of Lock Up, Morello met Zack de la Rocha and together, they founded Rage Against the Machine, one of the most influential and popular rock bands of the 1990s. Rage Against the Machine would go on to make 4 albums: “Rage Against the Machine”, “Evil Empire”, “The Battle of Los Angeles” and “Renegades”. All in they have sold over 16 million records worldwide and have been nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame four times starting in 2017 though the bids have failed.

After Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine in 2000, Morello joined forces with Chris Cornell, formerly of Soundgarden, to form Audioslave. Morello refined the distinctive guitar phrasing that helped Rage become so memorable, but Cornell’s interest in moody, mid-tempo songs provided an interesting contrast to his thrash-heavy styling.

Around the same time as Audioslave’s formation, Morello got involved in a non-music project as well. With System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, Morello organized Axis of Justice, a nonprofit whose mission, according to its website, “is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.” Axis of Justice has organized protests, concerts, rallies and walkouts to promote the group’s agenda.

Since the collapse of Audioslave after their 2005 album, Morello has remained involved in music. Creating an alter ego named The Nightwatchman, Morello recorded his first solo album, One Man Revolution, in 2007. As opposed to the guitar-driven hard rock for which he’s known, the Nightwatchman is acoustic-based folk music that recalls Bob Dylan’s earliest protest songs. His second album, The Fabled City, came out in September 2008. In 2011, Morello as The Nightwatchman recorded an album of cover songs called the Union Town EP and his third full-length studio album World Wide Rebel Songs.

In 2008, Morello performed extended guitar solos on “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at two concerts in Anaheim, California (which Rage Against the Machine covered on their Renegades album in 2000). In 2009, Morello performed live on four songs at Madison Square Garden as part of the E Street Band at the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert. When Steven Van Zandt, guitarist for E Street Band, had scheduling conflicts due to his acting career, Morello filled in on guitar during the March 2013 Australian leg of their Wrecking Ball Tour. As a result, Morello appeared on eight out of twelve tracks on Springsteen’s 2014 High Hopes album, performing co-lead vocals on Springsteen’s re-recording of “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Morello performed on Springsteen’s 2014 High Hopes tour.

Rage Against the Machine announced in November 2019 that the band would reunite for a world tour. The tour was initially scheduled to begin in 2020, but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.