Last night, Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova spoke at Amnesty International's Bringing Human Right Home concert at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. The Flaming Lips headlined the show along with Yoko Ono, Tegan and Sara, Bob Geldof, Lauryn Hill and more.
According to Consequence of Sound, survivors of human rights injustices took the stage between each act to share their stories and rally support for change from the crowd.
When it came time for the Pussy Riot members to speak, a video featuring Russian nesting dolls, designed to look like abused women and silenced press members, played with the slogan "We must not let Russian charm hide their atrocities."
According to the article, Madonna took the stage and spoke about how she was on tour in Russia when Pussy Riot performed their "Punk Prayer" in Moscow. She also talked about how our freedom of speech is something to be valued because not all countries have that freedom. "It's time for the rest of the world to be as brave as Pussy Riot," she said, "and stand up to repression."
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova then appeared along with a translator and thanked their supporters and Amnesty International. As CoS notes, they spent the majority of their time on stage speaking up about the May 6, 2012 human rights rally in Moscow and supporting those where were arrested. They reportedly finished their speech leading the crowd in chanting, "Russia will be free."
Check out a short video of their appearance here (via CoS), and let us know what you think in the comment section below!
