Jello Biafra
Overview
Jello Biafra is an American musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

 artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

 and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....

. After his time with the band concluded, he took over the influential independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...

, which he had co-founded in 1979 with Dead Kennedys bandmate East Bay Ray
East Bay Ray
Raymond John Pepperell , better known by his stage name East Bay Ray is a guitarist best-known for his membership in the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys...

. Although now focused primarily on spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

, he has continued as a musician in numerous collaborations.

Politically, Biafra is a member of the Green Party of the United States and actively supports various political causes.
Quotations

"Buy my soda!" said the Moose Diarrhea Salesman. And we did. We all did. But when we got it home and opened up the package, it was not what they said it was. And rather than chucking it all and searching for something better, we're content with looking for another Moose Diarrhea Salesman.

"Eric Meets the Moose Diarrhea Salesman", Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police, in an allegory on the current state of politics.

"Shut up, be happy. Obey all orders without question. The happiness you have demanded is now mandatory."

"Message From Our Sponsor", No More Cocoons (1987) (Also appears in Ice-T|Ice-T's track "Shut Up, Be Happy" on Freedom of Speech, Just Watch What You Say)

"And we will NOT let Campbell's Soup|Campbell's Soup, Old Navy|Old Navy, or anybody ELSE, HAMMER into the minds of girls as YOUNG as SIX YEARS OLD that they should ALWAYS Body_image|hate their bodies and ALWAYS eating disorders|be on a diet!"

"Become the Media" (Track 10)

(on the The_Real_World:_SeattleCast|"Irene Getting Smashmouthed" incident on The Real World|The Real World): Come, on, Mtv|EMPTY-V! ! [As] far as I'm concerned, Beavis and Butt-head and Daria|Dora (sic) are the only two good things you ever DID! [wild applause from audience] But can't you think of a better way to raise audience awareness of domestic violence, than to make it look COOL?

"Become the Media" (Track 10)

"We don't need a flat tax, but a flattening tax, to truly level the playing field."

"Our biggest national security threat is the environmental destruction of our planet and the arms race with ourselves."

"I am an anarchist in my personal life. I try to live my life in a way that I don't need cops or baby-sitters to keep me from infringing on others. But I don't feel we have evolved far enough as a species to make anarchy work in society itself. We still need government to transfer the wealth from those who have too much to those who have too little, to make sure important projects get done, and keep territorial humans from screwing over and killing each other."

 
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