Pussy Riot joins the cause of Wisconsin's solidarity singers

[hue]

Source: The Cap Times

The solidarity singers who gather daily at the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison have a pair of surprise guest musicians joining their chorus — Pussy Riot.

Two members of the notorious Russian female rock group known for their outspoken protests, Nadya Tolokonikova and Masha Alyokhina, make a surprise appearance in a new video extolling Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to drop the state’s prosecution against the singing protesters.

Pussy Riot is an 11-member female group known for staging impromptu performances and protests in the streets of Russia, and then editing the footage into music video. The group has vocally opposed many of the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin – in particular his anti-gay policies – and in 2011 three members (including Tolokonikova and Alyokhina) were convicted and imprisoned of “hooliganism” for singing an anti-Putin song outside a cathedral.

While all the members of the group were released from prison last December as part of a government amnesty ruling, they still face persecution from Russian officials, including being beaten and whipped when they’ve tried to perform in public. Last week, after recording their part for the solidarity singers video, Tolokonikova and Alyokhina suffered head injuries and chemical burns after being attacked by a group of men in Russia.

The video is part of a campaign called #SolidarityWisconsin launched by the Voice Project, an organization that fights for freedom of expression around the globe. The organization draws a direct line between the persecution faced by the members of Pussy Riot and what’s going on in Wisconsin.




Read more: http://host.madison.com/ct/entertainment/music/pussy-riot-joins-the-cause-of-wisconsin-s-solidarity-singers/article_771e6413-869f-5597-8e96-814615c8713a.html

[bananas]

1. k&r nt

[Scuba]

2. Here's the video...

If you are able, please go to http://FirstAmendmentFund.org to donate to help to defray the court costs for the hundreds of citizens who are still facing trial for the "crime" of singing.



http://vimeo.com/88723558


Thanks to Lefta Dissenter for her activism here too ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/108410910

[duhneece]

3. Moral Mondays in North Carolina next...

I hope! That's MY wish, not any kind of a plan.

[Igel]

4. I seem to recall reading when these two were in the US--

or had just returned to Russia--that they'd been expelled from the collective.

They rejected the notion and continue to bill themselves as PR members.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Should say ex-Pussy Riot members.

Members of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot have accused their previously imprisoned bandmates of undermining the group's ideals by appearing at a charity concert introduced by Madonna.

>

Selling concert tickets "is highly contradictory to the principles of Pussy Riot", said the letter signed with six nicknames: Cat, Garadzha, Fara, Shayba, Serafima and Shumakher.

"We're a female separatist collective," it said. "We never accept money for our performances … we only stage illegal performances in unexpected public places."

>

"They have said in every interview that they have quit the group and no longer represent Pussy Riot," said the letter. "But all of their appearances are announced as appearances by Pussy Riot.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/06/pussy-riot-madonna-amnesty-concert

They are also ex-Voina Collective. Claim to fame of one them was having anal sex in public when 9 months pregnant. Search for details by all means - I can't post a link because they all seem to contain graphic pictures / videos of the incident.

[bobthedrummer]

5. Thank you, in solidarity, for bringing mein Gauleiter WALKER's abuses to world attention-in solidar-

ity against the PUTIN extremes
Bob

[Feral Child]

6. K&R n/t

[dembotoz]

8. k and r

[bvf]

9. "Extolling" ??

Good on them -- genuine PR or no. But "extolling" ??