Amy Goodman: Imagine Peace—A Ray of Light in Dark Times

[marmar]

from Truthdig:



Imagine Peace—A Ray of Light in Dark Times


Posted on Oct 16, 2007
By Amy Goodman

John Lennon would have turned 67 years old last week had he not been murdered in 1980, at the age of 40, by a mentally disturbed fan. On his birthday, Oct. 9, his widow, peace activist and artist Yoko Ono, realized a dream they shared. In Iceland, she inaugurated the Imagine Peace Tower, a pillar of light emerging from a wishing well, surrounded on the ground by the phrase “Imagine Peace” in 24 languages.

The legacy of Lennon is relevant now more than ever. The Nixon administration spied on him and tried to deport him, all because he opposed the war in Vietnam. Parallel details of the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretap program and the Pentagon’s participation in domestic spying, with mass roundups of immigrants, are chilling, and the lessons vital.

Ono conceived the peace tower 40 years ago, at the outset of her relationship with Lennon. She grew up in Japan, surviving the firebombing of Tokyo. She told me, “Because of that memory of what I went through in the Second World War, it is embedded in me how terrible it is to go through war.”

She continued: “I thought of building a light tower, and John loved that idea, this light tower that just emerges once in a while. And so, he actually invited me in 1967, the first time that he invited me to his house. I thought it was a party or something, but, no, it was a very quiet day. And he said, ‘Well, actually, I invited you because I wanted to know if you can build the lighthouse in my garden,’ and I said: ‘Oh, dear, no, no. It’s just a conceptual idea. I don’t know how to build anything,’ and I was just laughing. But that’s when he wanted this light tower, and that was 40 years ago.”

Forty years ago, the young couple became increasingly active in the anti-Vietnam War movement. The FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, spent tremendous resources targeting critics, most engaged in perfectly lawful dissent. This was later exposed as COINTELPRO, the FBI’s counterintelligence program, which for decades spied on, infiltrated and disrupted domestic groups.

Lennon was a pacifist in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. As the anti-war movement was growing in militancy, Lennon and Ono got married, and used their honeymoon as a public appeal for peace. They decided to spend a week in bed, as a “Bed In.” Knowing their action would attract the global news media, the newlyweds ensured that their call for peace was heard and that all photos included the word “Peace.” They launched a poster and billboard campaign, using the phrase “The War Is Over—If you want it.” The actions were creative and lighthearted—but clearly threatening to the Nixon administration. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071016_imagine_peace_a_ray_of_light_in_dark_times/

[Bluerthanblue]

1. if we want it-

if we really want peace- it is ours.
Imagine that.

Thanks for this great article.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. Beautiful.

MKJ