As the New York Times notes, “Critics of today’s domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds. Years after Lennon’s assassination, it would be revealed that the FBI had collected 281 pages of surveillance files on him. What is more surprising, and ultimately more unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics.” As Adam Cohen of the New York Times points out, “The F.B.I.’s surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law enforcement purpose. Edgar Hoover), an attempt by President Richard Nixon to have him “neutralized” and deported. government (spearheaded by FBI Director J. Lennon was the subject of a four-year campaign of surveillance and harassment by the U.S. government will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority. government saw him as enemy number one.īecause he never refrained from speaking truth to power, Lennon became a prime example of the lengths to which the U.S. It’s been 36 years since Lennon was gunned down by an assassin’s bullet on December 8, 1980, but his legacy and the lessons he imparted in his music and his activism have not diminished over the years.Īll of the many complaints we have about government today-surveillance, militarism, corruption, harassment, SWAT team raids, political persecution, spying, overcriminalization, etc.-were present in Lennon’s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice, peace and a populist revolution. This kind of “power to the people” activism-grassroots, populist and potent-is exactly the brand of civic engagement John Lennon advocated throughout his career as a musician and anti-war activist. Most recently, after months of protests over the construction of a pipeline that members of the Sioux tribe insisted would harm their water supply, the Army Corp of Engineers has agreed to look for an alternate route for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. Likewise, while the 1960s anti-war movement began with a few thousand perceived radicals, it ended with hundreds of thousands of protesters, spanning all walks of life, demanding the end of American military aggression abroad. Similarly, the Civil Rights Movement mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to strike at the core of an unjust and discriminatory society. Still, the protesters returned the following year, and eventually their efforts not only succeeded in securing payment of the bonuses but contributed to the passage of the G.I. Finally, on July 28, under orders from President Herbert Hoover, the military descended with tanks and cavalry and drove the protesters out, setting their makeshift camps on fire. Congress adjourned for the summer, and still the protesters remained encamped. The Senate voted against paying them immediately, but the protesters didn't budge. Out of work, destitute and with families to feed, more than 10,000 veterans set up tent cities in the nation's capital and refused to leave until the government agreed to pay the bonuses they had been promised as a reward for their services. It can be done again.įor example, in May of 1932, more than 43,000 people, dubbed the Bonus Army-World War I veterans and their families-marched on Washington. Yes, America, it is possible to use occupations and civil disobedience to oppose government policies, counter injustice and bring about change outside the confines of the ballot box. Mass movements with huge numbers of participants work. It’s not thinking logically, it’s out of control.”-John Lennon (1969) The monster doesn’t care whether it kills all the students or whether there’s a revolution. “You gotta remember, establishment, it’s just a name for evil.
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