num_pages: 144
description: Note: Profits from the sale of this ebook will support the Pussy Riot legal defense team.On February 21 2012 five members of a Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot staged a performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Dressed in brightly colored tights and balaclavas they performed their Punk Prayer asking the Virgin Mary to drive out Russian president Vladimir Putin from the church. After just forty seconds they were chased out by security. Once a retooled video of the events circulated on YouTube (edited to seem much longer than the actual performance) the state was riled into action. Three members of the collective Maria Alyokhina Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevitch known as Masha Nadya and Katya were arrested and charged with felony hooliganism motivated by religious hatred an offense carrying a sentence of up to seven years. As their trial unfolded these young women became global feminist icons garnering the attention and support of activists and artists around the world including Madonna Paul McCartney and Sting as well as contributors to this book: Yoko Ono Johanna Fateman Karen Finley Justin Vivian Bond Eileen Myles and JD Samson. The Internet exploded with petitions music videos and calls to action and as the guilty verdict was anticipated Pussy Riot responded with articulate unwavering courtroom statements calling for freedom of expression an end to economic and gender oppression and a separation of church and state. They were sentenced to two years in prison and inspired a global movement. Collected here are the words that roused the world.
language: English
title: Pussy Riot!: A Punk Prayer for Freedom
publisher: Feminist Press