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Tom Morello’s mother Mary Morello passed away at the age of 102 earlier this month, leaving behind an incredible life of activism and service. Consequence caught up with the Rage Against the Machine guitarist over the weekend at the Newport Folk Festival, where he saluted his mom as “the most radical member of the Morello family.”
Mary, who worked more than 20 years as a teacher, was a lifelong activist who helped feed the destitute as a young girl during the Great Depression. In the 1980s, she founded the Parents for Rock and Rap, an organization that opposed Tipper Gore’s efforts to censor music through the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) — one of the many causes Mary fought for over her long life.
“My mom was 102 years old and lived a life of both humility and powerful purpose,” Morello told Consequence backstage at Newport Folk Festival. “She remains to this day the most popular and the most radical member of the Morello family, and God bless her.”
Tom recently launched the Mary Morello Memorial Project in his mother’s honor, telling us, “She always did service for others. There were a lot of organizations that she supported throughout her life, so if you donate to the Mary Morello Memorial Project, we will distribute that among the organizations that she stood alongside during her life.”
He added, “But, importantly, you don’t need to spend a dime to support the project. What we’re asking people to do is to do as Mary did… to commit an act of service, to walk a picket line, to throw a brick, to create a work of political art, and let us know about it.”
