Pussy Riot were originally formed in August 2011. The band included 11 girls that protested for LGTB rights and opposed to the Russian president Putin.
The method was quite simple, yet very provocative. The girls set up “guerrilla performances” in public places around Moscow. They performed and sang their provocative songs like “Kill the Sexist” and “Death to Prison, Freedom to Protests”. Later on, they would edit their performance and created video clips for fans to watch.
In March of 2012, three of the Pussy Riot band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were arrested and later convicted for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”. They were sentenced for two years in prison.
The arrest and conviction of the three girls for Pussy Riot attracted criticism and protest mainly from the west, but particularly form female artist like Madonna, Tory Amos etc. that called for the release of the girls, for human rights and for the freedom of speech in Russia.
This weekend, after a year in prison, all three girls were released from jail and are now free.
This is a story about music bravery, about feminism and about strength. It’s a story about believes and about protest.
In history, that is exactly how big revolutions starts - with just a few people believing for something and going through with it.
To me, the price the Pussy Riot girls paid is extremely heavy. The history tells us a lot about the Russian regime and it’s way of dealing with protesters, but during the Pussy Riot sentence I kept believing there would be a different end to all this.
Pussy Riot are true contemporary heroes. They helped spread a word. They helped raising a difficult subject to the Russian agenda and they paid with a year of their lives.
This is yet another case that shows the power of music, and it’s a story worth telling.
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