If Evolution is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Evolve

by Jello Biafra

The fifth of Biafra's legendary biting and poignant spoken word albums.
Tracks include: "Depends on the Drug," "Wake Up and Smell the Noise," "Murder of Mumia Abu-Jamal," "Clinton Comes to Long Beach," "Half Time," "The Hex Files: Space Shuttle Sequel," "The New Soviet Union," and "Talk on Censorship."

180 pages, Audio CD

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Jello Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band the Dead Kennedys. After his time with the band concluded, he became a political activist and took over the influential record label, Alternative Tentacles, which was founded by him and East Bay Ray. He continued as a musician in numerous collaborations and as a spoken word artist. Politically, he is a member of the Green Party and actively supports progressive political causes. He is a self-proclaimed anarchist who advocates civil disobedience and pranksterism in the name of political change. Biafra is known to use absurdist media tactics in the tradition of the Yippies to highlight issues of civil rights, social justice, and anti-corporatism.

His stage name is a combination of the brand name Jell-O and the name of the short lived country of Biafra which attempted to secede from Nigeria in 1966. After four years of fighting and horrific starvation in Biafra, Nigeria regained control of the nascent Biafran state. Jello Biafra created his name as an ironic combination of a nutritionally poor mass-produced food product and mass starvation. He said he likes how two ideas clash in people's minds.

Reviews

[Lloyd Kerns · Rating 4 out of 5]

My brain is jello. I wish it were Jello. I wish O could retain even 5% of his lectures because I tend to trust his research and judgments. His first spoken word came as a surprise. This fifth one was less surprising but easily my new favorite since NO MORE COCOONS. And I'm onto the next one.

[Roland · Rating 4 out of 5]

More good stuff from Jello. By the way, Jello was the reason I became an insufferably political jerk teenager. I've grown up since, but there's still some of that in me.