Tom Morello Debuts New Ferguson-Inspired Protest Song

Rage Against The Machine guitarist and activist Tom Morello is keeping the protest song alive with teeth solos aplenty. Performing as his alter ego, The Nightwatchman, during the Jail Guitar Doors’ Rock Out! benefit concert at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles, Morello debuted the track Marching on Ferguson.

The classic rock-style track is inspired by the recent unrest in the US town of Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer. Morello has been openly supportive of the Ferguson protestors and critical of local police conduct on his social media channels.

“Against death penalty but if instituted [for] killer cops, corporate criminals [and] presidents who go to war under false pretence might be deterrent?” the guitarist tweeted in the wake of the Brown shooting. Morello has long been noted for his vocal criticism of police brutality and increasing police militarisation.

Fellow artist Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, was also inspired to create after witnessing the trouble in Ferguson. Last month, Glover took to Twitter to share a moving poem in which he dissected being labelled a “white rapper”, assuring followers that the tag does not come with “all the benefits”.

Watch: The Nightwatchman – Marching on Ferguson at Jail Guitar Doors Rock Out! 2

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