Servitors of an Empire - Leninono

Alef Esteban

Section 2

Week 10

Servitors of an Empire - Leninono

            After I read the first sentence I only realized that the reading was talking about John Lennon and Yoko Ono as I thought "who is Lenono?" The only prior knowledge I have about this couple is that Lennon is a Beatles member who advocated for peace and died due to a shooting, and Ono is the person that made the Beatles disband. I hoped that the reading would give me more insight to the complexities experienced by the couple, as well as put their actions into perspective and its relevance to the issues at that time. It was interesting to read how the Immigration and Naturalization Service persecuted Lennon with the intent of weakening the pair, because this shows government oppression of the people. With Ono as the intelligent one, this made me wonder if Lennon's fame and popularity was a primary reason that people took notice of her. Even if she was an artist, she did not have the same worldwide fan-base as Lennon, and even the reading states that Ono talked Lennon to use his popularity to push their cause. Furthermore, technology allowed their message to be spread easily, effectively, and expand their target audience, since anyone with a television could watch them. Because of this, the Nixon administration kept eyes to prevent them from doing anything drastic that would impede their political agendas, another instance of the oppressive government. Since they have more power and resources, they are able to shut down any voices that do not fall within their favor and conceal their actions.

Question: If Lennon was still alive, would Ono be much more powerful in terms of political activism and in her own relationship?

Source: http://eil.com/images/main/John-Lennon-Imagine--John-Len-289966.jpg

John Lennon influenced people in both the music and activism sectors.