Breaking the sound barrier in Madison

SINCE MID-February, the hub of America's now open class struggle has been the state Capitol building in Madison, Wis. Scott Walker, the state's right-wing, Tea Party-backed governor, thought it would be easy to gut the unions of state employees, like kicking a wounded puppy. What he didn't expect was to be bitten back.

After Walker's attempt at old-fashioned union-busing went public, the state's population of workers, labor activists, students and community members burst forth in what can only be called a full-fledged uprising. The state Capitol was occupied, demonstrations of tens of thousands descended on the city, and for the first time in who knows how many decades, the term "general strike" doesn't seem so far-fetched. It's no overstatement to say that the "Battle of Madison" has the potential to change everything.

Tom Morello calls it "this amazing alternate version of America." The Rage Against the Machine guitarist, erstwhile Nightwatchman (and card-carrying Wobbly) was clearly moved. On February 21, he dropped everything, flew to Madison and performed for the demonstrators. "It's not just, you know, fresh-faced students from the university," he said. "It's firefighters and teachers and nurses and steelworkers, all of whom are living in the state Capitol and defending it!"

Morello wasn't the only musician who visited the state Capitol that day. The Boston punk group Street Dogs also took the stage, along with 1960s rebel rock legend Wayne Kramer, plus Tim McIlrath of Rise Against.

Street Dogs front man Mike McColgan says he too could feel something different in the air: "Sometimes, when you see protests, you know that they're temporary, and they're fleeting, and they're obligatory or staged or just a quick reflex. This protest in Madison is not a reflex, it's not obligatory, it's not going to go away. It's spreading around the United States."

If the people in the streets and the Capitol were from all walks and backgrounds, the songs performed that day reflected that. McIlrath played both Neil Young's "Ohio" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain?" Street Dogs counterposed their brand-new "Up the Union" with Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." Morello's "Union Song" was, of course, a staple. Kramer updated his own "American Ruse" to the "Republican Blues." And the performance ended with all musicians singing Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," including the now-famed "lost verses."

Hearing Morello and McColgan speak, it's clear that their presence in Madison affected both them and the protesters. "The overwhelming response was so warm," Morello says. "Between every song, there was this thunderous chant of 'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!'"

THE STRUGGLE gripping the city has caught the attention of the music world from its inception. The day after Valentine's Day, when thousands initially took over the Capitol, Pittsburgh rapper Jasiri X was in nearby Platteville to speak at a Black History Month event. The scale of resistance he saw was so impressive that after finishing his speech in Platteville, he immediately headed back to Madison.

The result was a from-the-ground music video for a track Jasiri had only recently written: "American Workers vs. Multi-Billionaires."

According to the MC, he had been thinking about the imminent budget cuts for a while before penning the lyrics: "I thought about how these decisions are being made by millionaires and billionaires, but they affect people who are most in need. That was the concept of the song, and it was mind-boggling when all this happened."

Jasiri, who has also written high-profile songs protesting the injustices that befell the Jena Six in Louisiana and the Sean Bell verdict in New York City, makes no bones about siding with working people:

Can Main Street get a bailout?
Tell the president our checks weren't mailed out!
Tell the House of Representatives and Senate
That whichever businesses got the stimulus should spend it.
Now they're getting record profits that are tripling with no limit
But they're cutting jobs, and unemployment benefits have ended
How we gonna live with no income coming in?
And the little healthy kid is cut from the budget then, then
Then what's the role of government
Do workers stand a chance when multi-billionaires are running it?

The track has since rocketed around the Internet, garnering recognition and messages of thanks from folks in Madison and from workers' rights activists worldwide.

Jasiri told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that what struck him the most was the attitude inside the Capitol building. "The people were so nice and it was a happy, jovial atmosphere," he said. "People weren't down. They were genuinely happy--drumming, dancing, singing. It was literally so loud that I couldn't hear the song unless I had earphones in." Seems enough to inspire any artist.

And indeed it has. Since Madison exploded, musicians seem to have been some of the most eager to use their art and status as a platform. Ani DiFranco has characteristically posted a statement of solidarity with the "fellow workers" on her Facebook page.

Dropkick Murphys (for whom McColgan used to sing) dedicated a track from their new album to Wisconsin's workers, and a limited-edition T-shirt whose proceeds are going to the Workers' Rights Emergency Response Fund. And a statement, "Artists United for Wisconsin Workers," has attracted the support not just of rappers and producers, folk singers and metal bands, but painters, poets, authors and arts collectives.

ON THE night of February 21, only a few hours after enduring frigid temperatures in front of the Capitol, Morello, Kramer, McIlrath and Street Dogs played a "Rock for YOUR Rights" show. The theme of the night, from the artists and guest speakers, was the need for solidarity. Any time a performer even mentioned the word union, it was greeted with ear-splitting applause. Governor Walker's name provoked raw collective ire. The display of unity was staggering.

"Culture is an important component of any struggle," says Morello. "People can read a pamphlet, they can hear a speech, but there's something in the DNA of human beings that responds to music in a very particular and forceful way... And when you've got 10,000 people or 30,000 people singing a song in solidarity together, it really does put wind in the sails of a struggle."

Less than a week later, on February 26, as Madison hosted the largest protest in Wisconsin's history, Morello returned to play for the demonstration. Also taking the stage was Peter Yarrow of seminal folk-revivalists Peter, Paul and Mary. The scene could have been pulled straight from the 1930s--with snow pouring down on countless union supporters holding placards and signs, Yarrow led the crowd in a version of the old labor classic "Which Side Are You On?"

The links drawn over these past few weeks have been profound, bringing together past and present, rock, folk and hip-hop, music and struggle. These are links that have always been there, for the most part buried and obscured. But moments like these often look capable of blowing everything wide open.

McColgan feels it's been a long time coming: "I think working class people are tired of turning the other cheek and they're going to push back for their rights."

His own labor credentials are hard to argue with. Two years in AFSCME, seven years in the graphic communications union, four years as a union firefighter in Boston. "Union members, no matter what job they're from--private sector, public sector--everybody's protesting, everybody's saying enough is enough," he said. "And I think it's about time. I think it's a new age, and I don't think people are going to relent."

If McColgan is right, then we're in for an outpouring of struggle and solidarity that many of us haven't seen in our lifetime. That so many have already reached out to inspire each other across lines of race, background and even style goes to show just how much power this coming wave may have.

Special thanks to Andy Stefan for his assistance with this article.