John+Lennon

= John Lennon: Political Activism  =

Category: Politics


For those who don’t know me, I am John Winston Lennon. Yes, I am a Beatle and here is my story:

I was born in Liverpool, England on the 9th October 1940. I was named after my uncle, John “Jack” Lennon and Winston Churchill. You people would think that I had an easy life right? Well, you are wrong. When I was young, I didn’t see my father often because he was a seaman and wouldn’t be home as often. In July of 1946, my parents had a big argument, which made them divorced. I had to stay with my mother and after that, I wasn’t going to see my father for 20 years.

Later on in 1957, my mom died in a car accident. In 1962, I was in the music business. I was in a band already. The Beatles. We had a range of music, from pop ballads to psychedelic rock. Our fame then led to the British Invasion. That made a huge difference in music and rock n' roll. We also wrote a song about the vietnam war and how people, especially university students didn't like the war. We called it "Revolution". I thought it was about time we spoke about it, the same as I thought it was about time we stopped not answering about the Vietnamese war. I had been thinking about it up in the hills in India.

media type="youtube" key="Imb4tYOk8GE?fs=1" height="385" width="480" "You say you want a Revolution, Well, You know, We all want to change the world" - The Beatles

At one point, I said, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink... We're more popular than Jesus now—I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity.". This seemed true from my point of view. That however, didn't impress the US. In fact, just that short phrase caused people to burn MY cds!! So after that happened, we had to stop our touring, which was quite sad. Later on, I started to think about leaving the band. I felt like Paul (fellow bassist,singer of Beatles) was taking over. Jesus Christ!! He took all the credit!!! :( At least, it was I, John Lennon, who wrote the well known peace anthems, Give Peace a Chance, and Imagine. Lets see him top that!!!! In the year of 1969, after a lot of thinking, I left the Beatles. It was something i had to do. I can't let Paul control my music.

So later on, I had a solo career. I also played in my Yoko's (my wife) band, the Plastic Ono Band. So that happened for some time. In that same year, I wrote "Give Peace a Chance", which became an anti-war peace anthem. 2 years after that, I created another masterpiece, "Imagine", which also became a peace anthem. After that, in 1975, I had my second son (my first with Cynthia Lennon whom I divorced with). I named him Sean. I then told the press that I will take a 5 year break from music to properly raise Sean.



media type="youtube" key="DCX3ZNDZAwY?fs=1" height="307" width="384" "Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too. Imagine all the people, Living life in peace.... " - John Lennon

media type="custom" key="7366021" width="107" height="107" "All we are saying, is give peace a chance!!" - John Lennon/ The Plastic Ono Band

In 1980, I then released my final album. It was called, //Double Fantasy.// After 3 weeks of it's release, I was shot by Mark David Chapman. I was coming back from Record Plant, after some recordings, reaching The Dakota, which was my apartment at that time. Mark was standing there. I met him earlier when he asked for my signature on his cd. So, i walked passed him and he shot me at the back 4 times, resulting 7 bullet holes (3 shots went through the body). By the time I got to Roosevelt Hospital, I was already dead. Mark then received 20 years. He was eligible for parole in 2000, but was denied 6 times, most recently in September, 2010.

This sent a huge amount of grief to my fans all over the world. It was very sad. It made at least 2 Beatles fan commit suicide.It also made people by my cds. However, I didnt get a funeral. My body was cremated and was given to Yoko. She also asked if there could be a ten minute silence in Central Park for me. Millions of people responded to it!! In Liverpool, 30,000 people had their 10 million silence and in New York, a staggering amount of more than 255,000 people who was in the Central Park during that 10 minutes.

I think that I can fit under a lot of characteristics of the IB learner profile. One of these characteristics is being a communicator. I have been communicating my message of peace to the world and I did this by using music. For example, Imagine was a song about me imagining how the world could be like. If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion- not without religion, but without this "my God is bigger that your God' thing- then it can be true. All of that was said through 1 song. This characteristic is probably the strongest one within me. Another Characteristic that I think I have is being a Risk-Taker. I have said lots of comments throughout my life, some through the use of music. There are also some that have something to do with Politics. For example, my song, "Woman is the N* of the World", was a song about how women were treated back then. Women had quite a hard time. They didn't get to vote. They were not educated. Woman were the slaves to the slaves. I wasn't afraid to write this.

"You may say, I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday, you'll join us, and the world will live as one." - John lennon
Websites: [] [] []) []) [] []

Me, By. "The Life Of John Lennon." //John-Lennon.com//. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. [].

"Beatlemania - The Politics of John Lennon." //Socialist Alternative//. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. []. "John Lennon's Activism." //John Lennon and the Mercy Street Café//. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. []. "John Lennon 1940-1980: History Professor Jon Wiener Discusses Lennon's Politics, FBI Files and Why Richard Nixon Sought to Deport Him." //A Daily TV/radio News Program, Hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, Airing on over 850 Stations, Pioneering the Largest Community Media Collaboration in the U.S.// Web. 02 Nov. 2010. []. "Lennon, John (1940 - 1980) - Credo Reference Topic." //Credo Reference Home//. Web. 02 Nov. 2010. []. "SongMeanings | Lyrics | John Lennon - Woman Is the Nigger of the World." //SongMeanings | Welcome//. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3458764513820543055 "YouTube - John Lennon - Woman Is the "N" of the World." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 03 Nov. 2010. [].