John Lennon once said, "Peace is no violence, no frustration, no fear."
As a veteran musician, Lennon's talent and fame grew into something profound—activism in the antiwar movement. As he spread the word of peace to all who would listen, a great precedent was set: Music and peaceful activism could become one.
Recently, Amnesty International teamed with nearly 50 popular musical artists, including U2, Aerosmith, Duran Duran, and R.E.M., to create Instant Karma, a two-disc compilation of classic John Lennon remakes. Amnesty has labeled Instant Karma its latest "Make Some Noise" initiative with a goal to "to engage more than one million supporters for Amnesty International's human rights work."
The selection of artists on this compilation span multiple genres and generations, with very broad appeal—such as an Imagine cover by Hawaiian folk strummer Jack Johnson and the Texican rock rendition of Whatever Gets You Through by Los Lonely Boys.
Pop's Grammy-award-winner Christina Aguilera delivers an emotionally charged cover of Lennon's Mother ; and Snow Patrol, The Postal Service, and The Flaming Lips add cool and moody indie soundscapes to appeal to edgier listeners.
Instant Karma combines music with innovative forms of activism, such as petitions to sign at
www.instantkarma.org and an "Instant Karma Player" to share with others on blogs, MySpace pages, and Web sites. The instant player allows you to sample the music and link to iTunes to purchase the album's songs. Amnesty will use the net proceeds from the album and iTunes sales to rally global support against the human rights abuses taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Since 2003, the Sudanese government has backed violence throughout Darfur and neighboring countries. This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, at least 2.5 million people displaced from their homes, and thousands of women and girls subjected to numerous forms of violence including, rape, murder, and torture.
Since the beginning of the genocide in Darfur, Amnesty has led the charge in pressuring the United Nations to send peacekeepers into Darfur. Although steps have been made, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir refuses to allow peacekeepers to deploy. Recently, Amnesty has tried a different approach, targeting the leader of the Chinese communist regime—whose government is the single largest foreign investor in Sudan—urging him to persuade al-Bashir to end the genocide.
While Amnesty works diligently in lobbying to make a difference, Instant Karma: the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur carves its own path and spreads around the globe. Released in download-only form on June 12, the album reached No. 1 on the iTunes albums chart in Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, and made the top 10 in 13 countries. After hitting record stores, the CD debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard Top 200 in the United States.
Instant Karma was made possible in 2002 by Yoko Ono, who graciously granted Amnesty International the rights to John Lennon's entire solo songbook with the goal to inspire a whole new generation of human rights activists.
John Lennon once said: "My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all."
He also said, "I don't believe in killing whatever the reason."
Thanks to Amnesty International and the artists involved, Instant Karma re-establishes Lennon's hopes for peace in the world—not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a humanitarian.
:P
(...gosh, i suck)