It was a blistering hot day in the heart of Ohio when Rage's "Bombtrack" landed on me. It was Lollapalooza, and I went to see Primus, who were to close the show. But after Rage played, no one else could top them.

In college, I was studying Economics and learning both how power and money corrupts and the problems of capitalism. I read Adam Smith, Marx, and Bentham, but none of those old guys could see what society would evolve to be. So I started reading Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn on the recommendation of Tom Morello (in a Guitar magazine, he listed a handful of his favorite books). They blew me away. Finally, someone is telling us our history without watering it down.

Rage is more than an outlet for aggression in this selfish bureaucracy: they are hope - hope Mumia gets a fair retrial, hope that the our people can one day act civilized.

Shells to pass to our classmates:

• Howard Zinn - A Peoples' History of the United States
• Noam Chomsky - anything he writes
• James Mills - Underground Empire (it almost made me quit drugs)
• ?�� - The Blood of Brothers�
• Gary Webb - Dark Alliance