{"id":23211,"date":"2022-08-09T12:11:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T19:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=23211"},"modified":"2022-08-09T12:11:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T19:11:26","slug":"russias-pussy-riot-makes-a-statement-by-making-a-scene-at-outside-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/09\/russias-pussy-riot-makes-a-statement-by-making-a-scene-at-outside-lands\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Pussy Riot makes a statement by making a scene at Outside Lands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joy Diamond\u00a0August 7, 2022Updated: August 8, 2022, 4:10 pm (Datebook.SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pussy Riot\u2019s Nadya Tolokonnikova sings during the final day of Outside Lands.Photo: Scott Strazzante \/ The Chronicle<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nadya Tolokonnikova has always been one to proudly scream her social and political opinions \u2014 she\u2019s not polite, and she\u2019s not sorry, either. The 32-year-old founding member of Moscow feminist art and activism movement Pussy Riot regularly leads political demonstrations and once served more than a year in Russian prison for staging a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tolokonnikova has yet to be scared into silence, and she came to Outside Lands on its final day to make her voice heard in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you ready to riot?\u201d she asked the crowd at the Panhandle stage on Sunday, Aug. 7, just a few days after a more intimate concert at the Independent just a few miles away from Golden Gate Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights from Outside Lands 2022<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pussy Riot\u2019s Nadya Tolokonnikova performs during the final day of Outside Lands.Photo: Bront\u00eb Wittpenn \/ The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tolokonnikova opened with Pussy Riot\u2019s politically charged punk rock headbanger, \u201cPolice State,\u201d provocatively lifting up her T-shirt \u2014 which read \u201cPussy\u201d in Russian \u2014 as she sang. By the end of the  song, she took off the shirt, which sparked a wave of cheers. But the audience\u2019s initial hoots and hollers quickly evolved into vehement screams of support when Tolokonnikova flipped the shirt over to reveal another message: \u201cFREE BRITTNEY GRINER.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement calls for the release of the American professional women\u2019s basketball player who has recently been sentenced to nine years in Russian prison for carrying cartridges containing cannabis hash oil \u2014 for which she was legally prescribed in her home state of Arizona \u2014 in her luggage when entering the country to play in the Russian Premier League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pussy Riot\u2019s Nadya Tolokonnikova holds up a shirt calling for imprisoned basketball player Brittney Griner\u2019s release.Photo: Bront\u00eb Wittpenn \/ The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And Tolokonnikova wasn\u2019t finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning her attention to reproductive rights, Tolokonnikova momentarily stepped offstage to show a video of Pussy Riot members in colorful balaclavas protesting at the Texas state Capitol building. \u201cWe believe that every person with a womb has a f\u2014ing right to decide what they want to do with their own body,\u201d one member said in the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The singer then came back onstage to give a speech, encouraging fans to donate to abortion funds and take action to defend and fight for abortion rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongress can and should protect the right to access abortion in every state,\u201d she said. \u201cCriminalizing abortion doesn\u2019t stop abortions, it just makes abortion less safe. If you\u2019re a lawmaker and you\u2019re guided by (the Bible), simply f\u2014ing good luck. F\u2014 you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tolokonnikova proceeded to open up about her own abortions. \u201cI (got) two abortions, and I\u2019m thrilled and happy I was able (get) them, because no one deserves to be an unwanted child. Vasectomy prevents abortion!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the same stage, Mill Valley-born Salem Ilese had made her own abortion rights statement during her solo set on Saturday, Aug. 6, changing lyrics to her hit song \u201cMad at Disney\u201d to take aim at the U.S. Supreme Court: \u201cI\u2019m mad at SCOTUS, SCOTUS,\u201d she sang. \u201cThey voted, voted our reproductive rights away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A backup dancer with Pussy Riot on the Panhandle Stage on the final day of Outside Lands.Photo: Bront\u00eb Wittpenn \/ The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Appropriately, Ilese returned to the Panhandle Stage to join Tolokonnikova for their song, \u201cPrincess Charming,\u201d a feel-good anthem celebrating independent women. Earlier this year, Ilese and Pussy Riot collaborated to create a line of non-fungible tokens through which they raised $170,000 for the Center for Reproductive Rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few songs later, a second surprise guest graced the stage: singer and rapper Boyfriend Together, Boyfriend and Pussy Riot performed their new single, \u201cDance With the Devil,\u201d as they took turns dancing with two backup dancers wearing ski masks and lingerie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the pair ended their duet, Tolokonnikova made two final statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only thing political prisoners need is to not be forgotten,\u201d she said, touching on her incarceration and activism. \u201cThis next one\u2019s for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ukrainian flag filled the screen behind Tolokonnikova as she called the audience members to join her in raising their fists for the Ukrainian national anthem. Then thousands in the crowd listened together in silence, a sea of supportive arms in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n