“He’s become his death/The spark of the riots/That’s the way he’s blessed/To stay alive.”
So begins the first English track by Russian punk band and human rights activist group Pussy Riot, as we see members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina in Russian riot police uniforms and being buried alive in the powerful music video. The song, called “I Can’t Breathe,” is dedicated to Eric Garner and victims of police brutality worldwide.
The pair told BuzzFeed:
“Illegal violence in the name of the state kills not only its victims, but those who are chosen to carry out these actions,” the group told BuzzFeed News in an emailed statement. “Policemen, soldiers, agents, they become hostages and are buried with those they kill, both figuratively and literally.”
The chorus, “It’s getting dark in New York City,” is haunting. The pair wrote the song after participating in New York City protests for Eric Garner over the summer, but the message speaks to injustices and oppressive policing tactics across the world. “We’ve known, on our own skin, what police brutality feels like and we can’t be silent on this issue,” they explained. “We really could not breathe for this whole last year.”
They created another music video using footage of the protests, below.
(Image: Pussy Riot)
