Brianne Kane – Special to the Southern News
Punk rock, the catholic church, Vladamir Putin, and five girls in shiny dresses and ski masks – where is the connection? The pop-punk band, Pussy Riot, who staged an impromptu performance on the altar of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior of their song “Punk Prayer” about how Putin is in the church’s pocket. It’s hard to imagine someone who hasn’t heard of Pussy Riot, given the amount of international attention devoted to their case. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were arrested Mar. 3, to which they put in jail and began a hunger strike to strike their mistreatment in the jail and the ridiculous charges against them. What were they being charged with? Breaking and Entering? Nope. Noise complaints? Nope. They were charged and jailed for – “HOOLIGANISM motivated by religious hatred.” This may sound odd to you, since the last time you heard “hooligan” used in a sentence was probably from your grandfather, but in Russia it’s still a crime. Later that week, Yekaterina Samutsevich was also arrested for being a member of the band.
Mar. 8 there was an International Day of Solidarity for Pussy Riot, and Apr. 5 Amnesty International announced their plea for Pussy Riot’s appeal and release. Even the Moscow Times referred to the Pussy Riot members’ trail as a “witch hunt” since journalists weren’t even allowed inside the courtroom during their proceedings, but instead were humiliated outside the locked doors of the courthouse. Nadezha Tolokonnikova was quoted explaining: “Our goal was political protest in artistic form. There was no hate, not a drop.” Even an HBO documentary, “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer” by Michael Lerner was created over this controversy. It is clear, through their own defenses and the peace organizations that support them that Pussy Riot had no religious hatred while performing their “Punk Prayer” but rather were trying to point out the grotesque political corruption that the church is a part of in Russia.
Since last year the performers have received their verdict of guilty, facing two years in Russia’s most brutal jail on Aug. 17, 2012. But on Oct. 7, Yekaterina Samutsevich changed her lawyers and said that since she had not participated in the events she should not be jailed: but this just weakened Pussy Riot as a whole. Instead of sticking together and fighting the proceedings with a civil disobedience attitude (not physically fighting back, but not participating in proceedings) Yekaterina was tricked by a (literal) spy within the jail to get her to separate herself from the other band members. The two women left in prison however struggle every day with their reputation as church slanderers in prison, noting that their fellow prisoners treat them “at best with contempt, at worst with hostility” said Tolokonnikova. However it is understood that none of the band members regret their political actions, as even Samutsevich said “I have no regrets. Many people did not know about the problem became aware of it: the problem in our society, in the Russian Church.”
The story of Pussy Riot is one many Americans feel close to – it’s a story of the truest political protest. The Huffington Post even said, “After igniting this flame of protest…Pussy Riot has become one of most influential artists of our generation. Moreover, many politicians and artists, including Paul McCartney, Madonna and Pete Townshend have publicly stood behind the band,” concerning the growing support for justice for Pussy Riot. But what now? They’re in jail and there is nothing we can do. Wrong! Other supporters and members of Pussy Riot are finding new ways to show Vladamir Putin that free speech and religious freedom is important, and political power has no place in either of those arenas. Pussy Riot recently released a new music video, entitled “Like a Red Prison” in which they break into an oil rig and sing about Putin sharing the country’s wealth among his friends in the oil industry. The political protest is alive!
Pussy Riot’s name may make you giggle, and their outfits are not supposed to be sexy, and they don’t sing about poppin’ bottles in the club, but nonetheless they are a voice for our generation and a voice for political freedom. Russia recently passed a law banning the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” aka being gay, or advocating for gay rights. This comes just as the Sochi Olympics are being planned for 2014 and just as two members of Pussy Riot sit in a cell waiting for release. Even if Pussy Riot isn’t your kind of music, or the name is too distracting to you, take a moment to think about a world without protestors like Pussy Riot. A world without John Lennon, or Martin Luther King Junior, or John F. Kennedy – a world without anyone who stood up for what they believed in, and believed they had the right to do so.
