Zack de la Rocha

Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970), also commonly referred to by his initials ZDLR, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. 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. Early life De la Rocha was born in Long Beach, California, on January 12, 1970, to Robert "Beto" de la Rocha, and Olivia Lorryne Carter. His father is a Mexican-American, with some African and Sephardi Jewish heritage, while his mother was born to Manuel García Urias, a Mexican-American, and Olive Pearl Fleming, who was of German and Irish heritage. 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 (18821920), 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. 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. 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." Musical career