Rise Against

Arizona

Nearly two years ago Rise Against joined The Sound Strike, a coalition of Artists that have been committed to supporting the International Boycott of Arizona in the wake of the passage of the anti-immigration law SB 1070 and to raise awareness and opposition to the predatory and punitive treatment of immigrants in Arizona. With the Sound Strike’s recent announcement of shifting strategies Rise Against will return to the state they last played with a show at Mesa Amphitheatre on July 14, 2009 with performances in Flagstaff and Tempe during their North American fall tour (see below for all fall tour dates).

The Flagstaff show on September 27^th at the Orpheum Theatre is a special evening to raise funds and awareness for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project.  100% of the proceeds from this show will be donated to the Florence Project.  "The Florence Project is extremely grateful to welcome Rise Against to Arizona to play in support of our mission and raise awareness about immigration detention,” says Lindsay Marshall, Executive Director of The Florence Project.  “Nearly 400,000 immigrants are detained and deported each year and Arizona continues to be ground zero for immigration enforcement and detention.  Thousands of immigrants are detained in rural prison facilities in our state and face complex legal proceedings without the right to free legal representation.  The funds raised through this show will directly support the Florence Project's work to educate all immigrant detainees about their legal rights, screen them for legal defenses to deportation, and support them in representing themselves in immigration court."  For more information on The Florence Project visit www.firrp.org or The Sound Strike at www.thesoundstrike.info.

“Boycotts are an age old expression of protest; a tool that has shaped our country in the past and will continue to shape it in the future. Boycotts are responsible for some of America's proudest moments; from the American Revolution to the civil rights movement. When Arizona passed an anti-immigration law called SB1070, many of us saw this as a dark day in American history. Not only would the law unfairly target the legal and documented Latino community in Arizona in its crossfire, but it failed to address the need for reform in America's broken immigration system. Citizens, businesses, and, in some cases, entire cities decided to boycott the state to protest these measures before they spread or got worse. We knew our fans wanted to see us play in their town, but we could not compare a fans disappointment in missing a concert to the devastating affect this law would have on so many working families in Arizona. Our band and other artists worldwide proudly joined The Sound Strike, an artist’s boycott of Arizona. Many of you understood the gravity of this decision and stood with us. Others were split, citing the fact that the citizens of AZ had nothing to do with SB1070, so it was unfair to punish them. Some believed the solution was to engage Arizona by coming and playing rather than avoiding the state altogether. We took this all into consideration and truly value your insight as always. But we followed our gut, and believed that we could not carry on business-as-usual when so much is at stake. We took a stand, not to punish our fans, but as an expression of protest that harkens back to the days of Rosa Parks and the civil rights era.

The work we have done has made a huge impact. Last year, thanks in large part to the boycott, five potentially devastating anti-immigrant bills were defeated in Arizona. More recently, racist Senate President Russell Pearce, and SB 1070 author, was recalled from office. Meanwhile, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has lost his abusive 287(g) and Secure Communities funding and authority and is on the ropes from an organized campaign calling for Arpaio’s resignation after ongoing complaints over 400 un-investigated sex crimes by his office. These victories, combined with the fact that copycat bills have been passed in Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia, are cause for an evolution of the boycott. This issue is bigger than one state, and we will take this fight nationwide. So along with The Sound Strike, we are ending our formal boycott of Arizona.

We love our fans in Arizona, and we appreciate you who traveled outside the state to see us play nearby in the last couple years. I still remember our first show in AZ in the basement of the Nile Theater. It was the best show of that tour thus far, we had no idea so many people knew our songs. It was then we fell in love with the punk community in AZ and looked forward to each return. Whether it's been Warped Tour, Scrappys, shows at the Marquee, or some of the great radio festivals we've done in the area, we always know we are in for a great show. Thank you for being a part of our journey, and we look forward to continuing it when we return this fall for not one, but two AZ shows on our upcoming tour.”