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Recently Freed Activists to Join The Flaming Lips, Imagine Dragons, Ms. Lauryn Hill and More at Amnesty International Bringing Human Rights Home Concert in Brooklyn
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Members of the Russian art collective Pussy Riot, who were recently freed from prison after 21 months, will participate in Amnesty International's landmark Bringing Human Rights Home concert at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on February 5, Amnesty International announced Tuesday.
"We are happy to support Amnesty International's work on behalf of human rights and political prisoners," said Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, whose imprisonment was the subject of hundreds of thousands of online actions by Amnesty activists after they were jailed for publicly criticizing Putin in a church. "We, more than anyone, understand how important Amnesty's work is in connecting activists to prisoners.
"A month ago, we were freed from Russian prison camps. We will never forget what it's like to be in prison after a political conviction. We have vowed to continue helping those who remain behind bars and we hope to see you all at the Amnesty International concert on February 5th in Brooklyn!"
Pussy Riot's Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova and Maria "Masha" Alekhina, who are now working to improve conditions for prisoners in the Russian penal colony system, will address attendees at the concert to raise awareness about prisoners of conscience: people who have chosen a non-violent path yet are jailed for their beliefs, color of skin, gender, or sexual orientation, and whose rights Amnesty has championed throughout its 50-year history. The star-studded lineup includes The Flaming Lips, Imagine Dragons, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Tegan and Sara, The Fray, Cold War Kids, Colbie Caillat, Cake and more yet to be announced.
Amnesty International USA Board Chair Ann Burroughs, a former prisoner of conscience in South Africa, said, "I remember how student activism opened the eyes of the world to the injustices of apartheid in South Africa. Pussy Riot's song of protest mobilized a new generation of activists to stand together in solidarity for freedom of expression. It is that power of music and solidarity that we are reigniting with the Bringing Human Rights Home Concert."
Between 1986 and 1998, Amnesty International held 28 concerts around the world with over 1.25 million attendees. The most high-profile component of the concert series was the six-week, five-continent, 20-concert "Human Rights Now!" world tour in 1988 headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N'Dour. Those concerts directly helped triple the movement's worldwide membership and mobilize a generation of human rights activists.
More information on the upcoming concert can be found at https://www.amnestyusa.org/Feb5concert, and tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Follow #AmnestyConcert for live updates.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million members in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.