Imagine Peace- Love, Yoko

October 9, 2010 marked the 70th birthday of the late John Lennon. Every year hundreds if not thousands of New Yorkers make a pilgrimage to Strawberry Fields in Central Park to be together, honor Lennon and celebrate his music and take part in an impromptu birthday party.

(Lennon's 67th birthday in 2007. www.strawberryfieldsnyc.com)



This year New Yorkers were treated to a free screening and the public premiere of a documentary chronicling Lennon's life in New York City called LennonNYC at Summer Stage in Central Park.
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I spent the day in Central Park and attended the screening, which brought an audience of over 5,000 New Yorkers and tourists alike. An old friend of Lennon's, New York musician Lou Reed addressed the crowd, and though John's late wife Yoko Ono was not in attendance, she was in Iceland lighting a Peace Tower dedicated to John, she sent a video message.



The documentary itself was wonderful, it humanized Lennon in way few other documentaries have done. I think my generation, who were more than a decade from being born when Lennon was assassinated, tend to keep him on a musical, revolutionary pedestal so being able to see more intimately in his life, both for better and for worse, was refreshing. His bandmates, producers, friends and Yoko spoke of his happiness in New York and green card issues, his problems with drinking, drugs and infidelity, and the joy he experienced living as a stay at home dad with his second son Sean and his love for Yoko.





Through private home videos and recordings there was almost a feeling that John was there with the crowd right then.


Yoko believes that even 30 years after his death, John is still alive and spreading his message every day. "I was so impressed with how good John was," she said of watching the film's previously unseen footage and recording outtakes. "I knew him as a husband. I wish I could tell him, 'Hey, you're so good.' But he is not there . . . I still think John's songs are giving power to the people." -Yoko Ono

http://imaginepeace.com/archives/12089


After the film, much of the crowd reconvened in Strawberry Fields and spent hours singing Lennon songs together, it was a very fun night for me, and cathartic to many New Yorkers who loved John while he still walked the park. "I come here a lot and play and sing," said a man named Ray who was one of several guitarists playing through the night. Ray has been visiting the memorial regularly for over twenty years. "John is such a part of New York to me, and he's given so much to me, this is the least I could do."