NYC celeb rally for Pussy Riot is about human dignity

Free speech, public demonstration, and protest literature will be alive and well in New York City on Thursday night.

With the verdict of the much-publicized trial of all-girl Russian punk outfit Pussy Riot set to be delivered on August 17th at 3PM in Moscow (8AM EST), support for the feminist band is already in full gear. Arrested for an anti-Putin "punk prayer" service they staged at the altar of Christ of the Saviour Cathedral in February of this year, members Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Ekaterina Samoutsevich face three years of jail time if convicted. In the wake of international indignation, the trio have received support from musicians across the globe, including notorious acts like the Beastie Boys, Sting, and Madonna. However, musicians are not the only ones to find a sense of something at stake, as is evidenced by the upcoming public reading at Liberty Hall in the Ace Hotel tomorrow, August 16th.

An array of talents will headline the event, such as seminal performer-poet Eileen Myles, actress Chloë Sevigny, performance artists Karen Finley and Mx Justin Vivian Bond, and Le Tigre member Johanna Fateman. In lieu of personally-penned material, each of the headliners will read "inspirational courtroom statements by the detained women," as well as prison letters and attendee observations of those present during the proceedings. The public reading promises to be a charged affair in the spirit of feminism, artistic integrity, human expression, and most importantly, universal dignity.

Want to show your support? Details about the public reading in NYC can be found here.