Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova have gone from a Russian prison to the stage of one of America's most popular new arenas in less than two months. 
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikorva, who've quickly become two of the world's most prominent human rights activists, implored the crowd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to speak out against what they view as an oppressive Russian regime under President Vladimor Putin. 
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"We have to remember that freedom is not a given," Tolokonnikorva said. "It's something we have to fight for and stand for everyday."
In particular, they urged the crowd to support a group of anti-Putin protesters who were arrested and jailed on May 6, 2012. 
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikorva alternated reading words from the closing remarks the protesters made on the same day as the concert. After, they made their intentions clear: "We demand a Russia that is free, a Russia without Putin." 
The Russian protesters for whom the Pussy Riot members offered support are expected to be sentenced on Feb. 21, after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
 
Madonna introduced the Pussy Riot members to the crowd at the Amnesty International "Bringing Human Rights Home" concert, which also featured performances and appearances by artists such as Imagine Dragons, the Flaming Lips and Blondie.
"They must be commended for their courage and their fearlessness," Madonna said of the Pussy Riot members.
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were released from prison in December. They served 21 months of a two-year sentence for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred," but were released early under a newly enacted amnesty law. The new law is widely viewed as a public relations play by Russia to curtail controversy over human rights during the Winter Olympics in Sochi this month.
The most common targets of the Pussy Riot members' activism since being released have been conditions for Russian prisoners, anti-homosexual laws in the country and laws they feel prohibit free speech.
The Barclays stop is part of a world speaking tour for Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova. During their first public appearance in the U.S., at Amnesty's Manhattan headquarters on Tuesday, the two women told reporters of their plans to start their own human rights group called Zona Prava and encouraged foreign media and politicians to look beyond President Vladimir Putin's portrayal of Russia.
They also explained that, while they're no longer performing music as Pussy Riot, they will continue to put on politically-motivated exhibitions.
"There will be performances, and they will be connected to our new activities and our former activities as Pussy Riot," Tolokonnikova said. "It's absolutely impossible to take this out of us, and I understand this every time I see some good music — the Clash, for example."
They further discussed what they see as the future of Pussy Riot during a news conference just before Wednesday's concert.
"Pussy Riot has [gone] from a group to an international movement," Alyokhina said. "Anyone can be Pussy Riot. All you have to do is put on a mask and stage a protest."
It wasn't all human rights-themed rabble-rousing for Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova during their time in New York; the two also showed their lighter sides during an interview with Stephen Colbert.  

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