(12/13/02) A press release issued Tuesday:
John Lennon's 'Imagine' Given New Voice As Centerpiece Of New Amnesty International Campaign For Human Rights
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today launched a two-year public education campaign created around John Lennon's legendary anthem "Imagine" that will use the timeless lyrics and melody to reach out across generations to rally support for human rights. The campaign will include a CD single of the song featuring an international children's choir produced by Academy Award winning-composer Hans Zimmer, a music video, online action components, and print, radio and television ads and PSAs. The multimedia public education campaign will include a special emphasis on reaching young people.
Yoko Ono gave Amnesty International usage rights to "Imagine" because of "the important work Amnesty has done for 40 years throughout the world -- work that embodies the spirit of 'Imagine.'"
"The 'Imagine' campaign is such a beautiful campaign," said Ms. Ono. "I'm just enthralled by it. By bringing this 'Imagine' campaign all over the world, and by asking children of different countries to sing the song, it's a way of getting children -- and adults -- to come together. It will mean so much to today's world for children to sing this song."
The Creative Artists Agency Foundation and the Los Angeles Unified School District partnered with AIUSA to sponsor today's campaign launch event at Venice High School in Los Angeles, where 3,000 students assembled to recognize the winners of a schoolwide human rights essay contest on International Human Rights Day. The three winners - senior Brooke Baxter, sophomore Sami Newlan and junior Barbara Leyva - received their awards from Mario Lopez (co-host of The Other Side), Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: Nemesis, X-Men), America Ferrera (Real Women Have Curves), and Gabriel Byrne (Ghost Ship, Enemy of the State, Usual Suspects and a longtime Amnesty International supporter who approached Ono about granting the organization the rights to re-record the song). Singer Joy Enriquez (Resurrection Boulevard and Seventh Heaven) performed and the school's award-winning choir closed the ceremony with Imagine. Former prisoner of conscience General Jose Gallardo addressed the student body.
"John Lennon's vision was of a world in which the needs and rights of every single person were respected and people everywhere lived in peace and harmony," said Curt Goering, AIUSA senior deputy executive director. "His lyrics challenged people to imagine and act -- the same challenge Amnesty International has issued for 40 years. With ongoing and impending conflicts around the globe, Amnesty International calls on people everywhere to join us not only in imagining a better world, but also in working to protect human rights and create a more secure and just world. "
The "Imagine" campaign's advertising kicked off in the New York Times Magazine (December 8) and will include a four-page insert in the December 23 issue of The New Yorker. The ads, conceived by San Francisco-based Collaborate and showcasing photography from Magnum Photos, initially focus on the civil war in Chechnya (news - web sites), child soldiers, the trafficking of underage sex workers, and domestic civil rights (see accompanying backgrounder for additional information on these human rights issues). The Amnesty International USA website launched a special Imagine page, http://www.amnestyusa.org/imagine, where users have the opportunity to work on behalf of prisoners of conscience from around the world. Amnesty International members have helped free more than 45,000 prisoners of conscience since its founding in 1961.
AIUSA plans to release the music video and CD single in early 2003, both featuring an international children's choir offering a heartwarming performance of the song with images of children from around the world. Paul Dektor of Dektor Films traveled around the world to film children for the music video and PSAs.
"The artistic community's support of the 'Imagine' campaign will be invaluable in helping Amnesty International reach across generations in defense of human rights as John Lennon did so eloquently when he wrote this classic song," said Bonnie Abaunza, AIUSA Director of Artists for Amnesty.
The next 'Imagine' Day is being planned for Spring 2003 in New York City. (Thanks to Trini Schultz.)