Peace Heroes

"One time on a boat…I was under the influence of LSD, I heard the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.” I was singing along with the music. I saw my voice depart my mouth, bounce off the New York waters, into the ocean, go all the way around the earth…and return to my own ears. A moment of powerful peace.”-Eric Burdon, Feb. 29th, 2008

Most know Eric Burdon as being associated with the 1960’s British Invasion group The Animals, whose signature songs include “House of the Rising Sun” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” released in 1964. Influenced by Ray Charles, Josh White, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed to name a few, Eric Burdon and The Animals developed their own soulful sound of rhythm and blues that carried it’s gritty southern rock n roll around the world. Along with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and The Spencer Davis Group, they introduced a whole new generation to fashion, unrestricted music and lyrics, and a powerful NOW kind of attitude.

As the decade of the 60’s became more experimental with drugs and strong suggestions of peace, the music changed along with it. Music was now a way of life and albums were a piece of priceless art. The happenings in Vietnam were reality and people wanted a sense of self conciliation. The music was no longer about great American Bandstands, Bubblegum, and the innocence of 1950’s reflections of post World War II optimism in America. It was about social change and balance. Acid Rock was introduced and shortly after the more mellow Psychedelic Rock gained popularity with a new counterculture, hippies.

Eric Burdon and the original Animals were making history throughout this time until they went their separate ways in 1966. But Burdon re-appeared in California with his new group at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. His new Animals went on to characterize the era musically with many songs now considered non conformist classics. In 1968, they released a two part single called, “Sky Pilot” that reached number 14 on the U.S. pop charts. It was split across due to it’s length and for the same reasons, it was rarely aired. It was considered their first “Anti-War” song. The ballad is about a chaplain who blesses a body of troops just before they set out on an overnight raid. He then retires to await their return. The band continued on throughout the late 1960’s. They released a song called “San Francisco Nights,” a song that would mark their usage of hallucinogens and accumulate many 1960’s American themes as possible. When performing at the Monterey Music Festival in 1967, it was clear that Eric had re-invented himself on stage. He had a new kind of vibe and edgy approach as the 1970’s where drawing near.

In 1969, an new funky sound of soul was played over the airways introducing a multicultural funk band from Long Beach, California called War. Their music consisted of a smooth blend of jazz, funk, rock, blues, Latin music, and R&B. Eric began playing live shows with War and the audience turn out was sensational. Eric and War released their first album called, “Eric Burdon Declares War” in 1970 which included tracks such as “Spill The Wine,” Wars first chart hit reaching number five and eventually reaching number 3, and “Tobacco Road” which was first written by John D. Loudermilk in 1960. It was a hit later known sung by The Nashville Teens in 1964.

Eric decided to leave War in 1971 and continued on with a solo career. He bounced back and fourth rejoining The Animals and reunited in 1983 to release a single called, “The Night.” From there on, he continued to tour with a new set of “Animals” and is currently on tour around the world. His latest studio album was released in 2006 called, “Soul of a Man.”

As a pioneer of our true hippie, peace and love days, I wanted to gain a full prospective of the views a legend such as Eric would have, then and now. Eric Burdon didn’t start a peace revolution or try to change our views of thinking, he was one of the us. He had an opinion. He wanted change.

On February 29th, 2008, I interviewed Eric Burdon regarding his views about Peace and his innate desire to want it. I asked him, “We live in a world at war. Is it realistic to hope for world Peace?” His response was phenomenal. He answered, “It’s a long shot. I would be lying to myself to say “yes” to this question. Peace of mind is, for sure, a possibility and I am a long way from that. I found in my life, which is just a drop in a large pool of humanity, that the democratic system enemy in order to ‘keep order.’ I was born in a world at war…It hasn’t changed…but for me, I’ve survived without encountering personally very much violence. Not that I haven’t been a witness to violence. So, where does that leave me? Believing everything is an illusion. Does this mean I’m deluded or just lucky? I know where to find it; I know how to avoid it. To be able to debate peace is probably as close as we can get in today’s world. Every “ism” in the world needs an enemy to exist. The need to argue this is an imperative. More civilians are killed today than combatants. I survived the war and somehow managed to survive the peace. Two of my closest friends did not.”

I then asked, “Does everyone have an innate desire to seek and experience Peace?”

His reply, “I see more actual combatants…Soldiers everywhere waving peace signs. They have stolen the pace. These are more questions than answers. Is it my imagination, or a fact, that most wars are generated by those who profess to want peace. Have war-makers high-jacked the concept of peace…Judging by the photographs I see of the 20 odd conflicts going on around the planet…It’s the soldiers who flash the peace sign.”

My next question was simple. I asked, “Where can Peace be found?

He replied, “In the eyes of a well-nurtured child or animal that’s not under threat, usually from a human. Do you think I know peace? Personally, at the moment I do…but do I live in a peaceful world? I do not. So it’s within.” I followed that question with, “How can a person help Peace manifest in their life?” He said, “Do the right thing, breathe, and do it again.”

I continued on with my questions. “What kind of Peace do you help people find?” He said, “It’s pretty difficult to locate I, those moments. All my younger life I was running at high speed…Making all sorts of problems with drugs…Performance in front of large crowds…I never stopped to think about the violence around me until I was personally confronted with it. I’ve always managed to talk or sing my way out of bad situations.” I added, “Who or what influences your Peace?” He laughed, “My wife has peace of mind. I do not. It’s a guy thing. Have you noticed that animals are now at war with humans? Don’t laugh. It’s for real.”

I concluded my interview with two direct questions. “Do you have a message? Give us some words of your wisdom.” He said, “We as the human race are more likely to perish due to a pandemic of some sort in the near future. Poverty is the greatest weapon of mass destruction.” I said, “Anything you would like to add?” He quoted Wilhelm Hegel “World History is not the soil in which happiness grows. Periods of happiness are empty pages” He then said, “And my friend Jimi Hendrix said, “When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, the world will know peace.” This concluded my interview with Eric Burdon.

Many people of our past and present share one thing. Peace. It doesn’t matter what race, what gender, what clothes you wear, what language you speak or your age. Peace is universal. Peace is something we all desire. It is something we can share and something we can give. What is Peace? It has been defined as a state of harmony and the absence of hostility, a state of tranquility if you will. An absence of disturbance. We see it, we feel it, we hear it, and we touch it. You may not realize it but you interact with peace everyday. Whether it was 200 years ago, 50 years ago, today, or tomorrow. PEACE is PEACE and will always have it’s place in society You just have to find it to achieve it.

Peace to all!

Felicha Bogroff

Los Angeles, Ca

Cindy Sheehan is controversial. When I presented her on the Discussion Page as a Peace Hero, I figured she'd be as automatic as John Lennon was...but in a different way. Not. A couple of comments questioned whether she was any kind of hero at all, and nope, you won't see those here on her Peace Hero Page. They're still there on the flickr discussion page...we don't censor, but this is her Peace Hero Page and for that, I did a copy and paste of all the reasons folks think she IS a Peace Hero. I asked for 10...and got a lot more. I closed the discussion and people emailed reasons and added them to the blog. I think I got them all, let me know if I didn't! Some of the links provided here on her page are great...check 'em out :) And PEACE...to everyone.

beachblogger42    says: I think Cindy is a hero.







these are the first freewayblogs I did. I was inspired by Cindy Sheehan's protest in Crawford Texas.

www.flickr.com/photos/beachblogger/519968801/in/set-72157...





the legacy of the BUSH regime will be that everything is a war. the response to any situation is "You're either with us, or against us." the response to any opposition is attack and smear. BUSH has divided our county; why can't he see that united we stand but divided we ALL lose.

Thank you Cindy Sheehan for your inspiration and example.

BUSH has really injured our country and the people of the Earth. it will take years to correct and repair these injuries. but nothing is forever. BUSH and Cindy have provided some focus on what is wrong with the neo-con mentality; we are learning as a country how NOT to do things. Cindy has shown courage. Protest is not really tolerated. Cindy has been arrested for protesting. And shouted down and attacked. Here are some links.

If every hero had to be perfect in every-way there would be few heroes.

OneMillionPeaceSigns.com    says: For me, someone who has never had anyone close go to Iraq, much less die there, Cindy Sheehan defines one end of Activism. Peace Hero, hell, yeah, I'd say that!

She stood up to George W. Bush. She called him on the wrongness of his attack on Iraq. She tried to make Bush and his administration AND the Democrats who voted for that war accountable for their actions. She wouldn't back down. She wouldn't shut up. She wouldn't go away.

Cindy Sheehan did all that without harming anyone...without hitting anyone, or hurting anyone. She inspired people to Do Peace. She led people to March Peace. She asked people to Shout Peace.

It's not enough to wear a lapel pin or slap a yellow flag on your SUV. If you're called to Do Peace, as I think Cindy Sheehan was, you have to do it, no matter how hard it is. Cindy Sheehan is a Peace Hero to me because she Pushed Peace beyond the comfort zone.

YIKES. That hurts!

LightStamp    says: Of course Cindy Sheehan is a peace hero. Her son died and rather than reclusing, she stepped forward out of her grief and tried to make a positive statement. We certainly need more peace heros like her.

Speak YOUR Peace    says: I think she is honorable for her determination and intelligence. Apparently, learned from my talks with the Crawford Peace House, there was a miraculous convergence down in Crawford once she took her stand in the ditch. It is honorable that her voice, it's authenticity, was able to catalyze thousands. Many people believed in Cindy and still do. I hope she uses that to promote Peace because mostly I hear anger coming from her. I guess she is just using the language of the "big guys" that she is up against, and her persistence is amazing. However, my hope is she teaches the "big guys" a new language, by not using anger so much in her tone. I understand we have to be adamant and loud though. I do not doubt that. But Cindy is in a high profile position and I hope she keeps the love strong-as she inspired many people based on the idea of love-love for her son Casey.

Gamma Infinity    says: I think she is a Peace Hero. You have to remember how it was before she stood up to the president. Everyone was afraid of being disappeared and "rendered" to some secret base if they spoke out on the obvious truth. This truth was and is that the war was and is killing sons and daughters (3973 at last count) for a "noble cause" which was vague to begin with, changed from month to month, and seemed only peripherally related to stopping terrorist groups which were at the time operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq.

Cindy knew what she was getting into, because by then she was active in Gold Star Families for Peace and Veterans For Peace. She knew that the usual Rove office people would ruin her life and her reputation if she persisted, but she did anyway. She paid with her health, mental AND physical.

The result was that more people stood up, all over the country. The movement finally got media play, and could no longer be dismissed as just the same far left people who protest everything.

Someone said something about entering a burning building. At least for me, this is far less scary than standing alone against the huge power of the US executive branch. They can make you wish that all that happened to you was a few third degree burns, bad as they are.

Sounds heroic to me.

mikehear2000    says: Cindy was a spark that lit a fire under the the antiwar movement at a time when the movement needed a spark. I traveled to Crawford and became a part of the effort. I met many Veterans for Peace and Iraq vets against the war. Cindy is a peace hero to me.

derAmialtebloede    says: Anyone willing to actually run for Congress is certainly courageous in my eyes, so I think Ms Sheehan also qualifies as heroic even by Barry's severely limited definition

staygraphic    says: Cindy has worked tirelessly, while maintaining optimism in a world that is numb, in an attempt to wake America up from her slumber. I give her HUGE kudos for diligence, kindness, tenacity, and courage. Her message is important and regardless of the Main Stream Media turning their backs on her and the Anti-War Movement...she continues to bang the drum for Global peace. Power to the People...often it starts with one brave soul.

takomabibelot    says:

betmo said...

you know what? cindy sheehan did more to get the peace movement in this country kickstarted than any other single person. she had the courage to stand up when no one else would- when the media was flooded with rightwing patriot families waving the flag and talking about how proud they were of their children. well, she has a right to be proud of her son- and angry that he got sent for a corrupt reason- and killed. cindy sheehan gave courage to the families who weren't listened to- to speak out and add their voices to the chorus of dissent. she gave the active military personnel the courage to stand up and stand out against the war that they are still fighting. the people who don't get that- have to resort to hate mail because they have no argument to make. they go on the personal attack because it's all they can do.

choff said...

Glad to contribute Cindy Sheehan's picture to your effort. She was then and remains to this day a 'Peace Hero' for me for her courage, resilience, and indefatigable devotion to ending the war in Iraq. She woke me out of my post-election 2004 funk and got me - and presumably millions of people around the world - mobilized again.

Bring the troops HOME!

People Power Revolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Revolution

YouTube:

People Power Revolution

Die Philippinische Revolution 1986

http://peoplepower.e-workers.de/counting.php

1986: The People Power Revolution of the Philippines

In an effort to prime the pump of the Peace Heroes page, we invited flickr OMPS group members to throw in their individual two cents worth on why John Lennon was a Peace Hero. We asked for 10 and cut it off when there were 11 so we could get it up on the page. Enjoy! And thanks to all the contributors!

NizhoniGrl    says:

-He sang songs about peace and love.

-He sang a song for a peace fundraiser.

-They tried to kick him out when all he did was protest for peace.

-He made up the slogans: Bag Peace, Hair Peace, and Bed Peace.

-He set up thousands of signs that said "War is over when you want it to"

-He had those groovy sunglasses.

just _janelle    says:

i think when he died, the true peace movement and faith died with him. he was the insperation of peace. <3

d0b13 says:

He was an inspiration.

He started movements.

He spoke his mind and went against what was necessarily "right" during the time period.

His music.

He was the definition of beauty

beachblogger42    says:

he made me imagine.

beachblogger.net

Fenfotos says:

Isn't it obvious?

Because, as John Lennon sang from his Peace-in bed,

"all we are saying ... is 'give peace a chance'!"

Speak YOUR Peace    says:

I went to the art exhibit Instant Karma, showcasing his art, and was motivated to ride 19,000 miles for Peace. The quote I saw mentioned that if a billion people were thinking about Peace, there would be Peace in our world. So I was inspired to put that idea to the test, travel America talking about Peace and to start a website asking People to think about and define Peace. He was both famous and important . I love that he used his fame to promote social change and global healing. He laughed and played; came up with zany approaches to handle conservative thinking. He didn't take no for an answer and he truly came from a place of love.

simply, Diann    says:

John Lennon wasn't a saint, that's for sure. From what I've heard and read, he was temperamental, sometimes violent, and often quite selfish. He was also an inspiration for an entire generation, including myself. Lennon cared about social justice. He cared about the world we live in. He used his fame and his stature to make a positive difference in the world. When he sang, "all we are saying is give peace a chance", he spoke for all of us. His message of peace is enduring.

Action! Action! says:

john lennon is a peace hero

for creating GIVE PEAVCE A CHANCE,

for of course being in the beatles,

he cares about love, feelings, and of course peace,

John Lennon is a hero to all for his creative thoughts

on war, love, and freedom.

He should be known in history books for what effects

he has done, whether that includes music or not.

(:

Hotash    says:

ImAgInE

Perla*    says:

He embraced the world as of one, without prejudice (He showed the whole world that really meant it when he married Yoko ONO. His song IMAGINE is up to this date live symbol, a hymn of PEACE:



Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...



Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...



You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one



Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world...



You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

VeryScaryCarnival says:

Just knowing that the US government was terrified of his message is enough for me

PHOTO courtesy of Brett Weinstein

 

"One of the most basic principles for making and keeping peace within and between nations is that in political, military, moral, and spiritual confrontations, there should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before resorting to combat." Jimmy Carter



Jimmy Carter of Plains, GA is a true Peace Hero to many. He grew up on a peanut farm, served seven years as a Navy Officer, and continues to spread Peace in 2008 as a statesman and spokesman for the US.

Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the US, from 1977 to 1981.He initiated and also moderated the 1978 Camp David agreement, which greatly helped bring some peace between Egype and Israel. He also established diplomatic relations between the US and China. Jimmy Carter finished the SALT II negotiations  for a nuclear limitations treaty with the Soviet Union. His last day in office was the day that Iran released 52 American hostages. He had lost the election that year to Ronald Reagan, but he continued to work and he was the one who brought the hostages home peacefully.

These days, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, his wife, are very involved with Habitat for Humanity, a nondenominational Christian housing organization that has built over 35,000 homes in the US. Jimmy Carter can be found working on some of these houses in the construction process.

In 1982 he founded The Carter Center to promote Human Rights.

Jimmy Carter won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, for his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Jimmy Carter is a national treasure and a Peace Hero who will continue to inspire us forever.









 

I think that Oskar Schindler was a true peace hero. I think his wife Emilie was also.

 If you saw the movie "Schindler's List" you know a bit about Oskar Schindler, but no one I guess will ever know what went on inside his head and his heart to make him risk his life to save all the Jewish people he saved. He was not Jewish. He was raised as a Catholic and in fact was part of the Nazi Party until he realized it was evil. He wasn't a saint by any means. He was very human and had human vices and weaknesses, a lot of them. But, according to Schindler himself, he did what he had to do for the people he helped because he knew it was right.

It is estimated that he, along with his wife Emilie, saved at least 1,200 Jews from the horrors of the Holocaust.

Schindler was born in Zwittau, Czechoslovakia. His best friends growing up were the sons of a Jewish Rabbi, his neighbors. Oskar's family was wealthy, but went bankrupt because of the economy, and Oskar joined the Nazi Party. He was smart and eager and was recruited by the German Intelligence Agency, which helped him later save his Jewish friends.

When he was with the Nazis though, he got control of a Jewish-owned enamal works factory and because they were cheap labor, he employed Jewish workers. They became his friends, and he saved them with bribes and influence he had with the Nazis. He risked his life and spent his fortune to do it.

Oskar bribed and begged and finnegled the Nazis to let him move all his Jewish workers to his new factory when one closed, so they wouldn't be sent to the camps. He fed them well and was kind to them and protected them. The older people, who the Nazis would have killed, he wrote their years down as younger. He kept families together. He kept people healthy. This may all sound like what anyone would do, but the fact was Schindler was doing it at the risk of his life. He spent all his fortune to do it too.

After the war, Schindler was shunned by many because he condemned what the Nazis had done. He has been called their "bad conscience", the conscience of all the Germans and others who knew what was happening and did nothing. Schindler was a peace hero because he did what he did for people.

His wife Emilie was also a peace hero, working with Oskar to save people, even though Oskar had a mistress among other things. After the war Oskar and Emilie and Oskar's mistress and 12 "SchindlerJews" went to live in Buenos Aries. Oskar went bankrupt in 1957 and went alone to Germany, estranged from Emilie for the next 17 years. He died a poor man in 1974, when he was only 66 years old. Emilie stayed in Argentina and was honored in 1994 with The Righteous Amongst the Nations Award. She finally moved back to Germany though, and died there in 2001.

You can read a letter that Schlinder's Jewish friends that he saved wrote:

http://www.yadvashem.org/

For all these reasons, I think Oskar and Emilie Schindler are Peace Heroes worthy of this page. I think the world is a better place because they lived, and that is the mark of greatness. Thank you for letting me submit these people as my Peace Heroes.

“I like it when the paint drips…and I don’t always follow the lines.” Now THAT’S a winning Tshirt, and one that describes Beachblogger42, well, “to a T”…and it could even be one that he’ll design someday, tho he wouldn’t be likely to wear it himself since T’s aren’t his shirt of choice.

Watch him work on YouTube. Is that cool or what?!?!

That’s the Rolling Stone-like interview intro paragraph to Beachblogger42, One Million Peace Signs’ (OMPS) first “Peace Hero”. He was among the first brave souls to add his Peace Photos to the OMPS Pool, way back in the beginning (Jan. 1, 2008) when we were little more than a Puddle.

We chose Beachblogger42 to kick off the Peace Heroes page not because he’s slain the scariest, nastiest dragons, but rather because we immediately liked his style…and his scale. He said we could call him Peter, and we will, because it’s faster to type…but we still think of him as Beachblogger.

To start with, Beachblogger, er, Peter, draws literal “lines in the sand”…lines that turn into circular Peace Symbols and way-bigger-than-life sized letters calling for PEACE! When he’s not playing on the beach, you might find him Freeway Blogging his way to places like Crawford, TX. (You really need to read this story in his own words, for step-by-step instructions on how he did it, and how you too, can blog your local freeway.  

Peter’s latest modus operand is a leap into the other direction…he’s working on “stamping out” or more accurately, stamping IN Peace…with his very fun Peace Stamps. You’ll find them in his webstore. Buy one…buy two…he has them made at a local shop that employs and benefits people with Cerebral Palsy.  ”Impeach” stamp your dollar bills and smile innocently when you pay for gas or Girl Scout cookies.  Pass Peace-stamped dollar bills at the pub. Maybe Peace Money will buy a winning lottery ticket—who knows?

Peter does indeed blog his local freeways. He’s earned a reputation, and even made some enemies. The “dripping paint” quote refers to some of the signs he makes to decorate the overpasses near his home in California.

Beachblogger swims against the mainstream—and he’s fine with that. “I’ve never voted for an elected President,” admits Peter, “And Ross Perot is the closest I ever got to voting for a Republican.” He can quickly outline his political heritage since 2003, the year he saw a woman standing with a sign on the side of the road. The sign said “Stop the Outrage” , and Peter says he can clearly remember thinking “Which one? Which outrage?” and realizing that things were indeed as bad as they seemed.

In 2004 he worked for some on the Democratic side of things, and in August of 2005 he dug into the sand and out came his first beachblog. “Cindy Sheehan went to Crawford shortly after that, and then there was Katrina…” Peter’s voice trailed off as he remembered… “That’s when I really started beachblogging and Freeway Blogging, “ he said. He wrote his first post in November of 2005. 



The next year was a turning point, and probably the culminating point of what Peter refers to as “my current disillusionment”.  He was active with a number of different Democratic campaigns—pushing “Pancakes for Peace” with a little red wagon, and attending functions leading up to the 2006 Congressional primaries. “All I was hearing from the people around me was how much money they’d raised on this dinner or that cocktail party, and it hit me that that wasn’t what it was all about, at least for me.” He decided then that he’d given his last donation to any political party…and instead took to the beaches and the freeways and began protesting in earnest.



Since 2005, Peter estimates that he has made over a thousand signs. He also quit his engineering job in the military arena last year, because of political reasons. “It just wasn’t worth it,” he said, “and I was ‘swift-boated’ by the people I was working with. I know I’ve said it before, but ‘disillusioned’ is the best way to put it.”



His webstore was an attempt to dispel some of that disillusionment, and to channel his passion for wanting to make a positive difference in the world. “I’m an engineer, and I’ve worked in the military industrial complex for pretty much my whole working career—but I was trained as an artist as much as an engineer” he explained.



What's next? Well, Peter is looking forward to starting a new job, where he'll be working at conserving and recycling our natural resources. He'll also be painting and printing signs for local Peace Protests, and revamping his webstore to highlight the Peace Stampers.



(hey Peace People...plug for Peter...these make GREAT little "thinking of you" gifts for special Peace People and sometimes rabble-rousers! Talk about spreading Peace...these stampers make it extra-fun.)



And not to worry folks, Peter WILL also be beachblogging and freewayblogging, and he's assured us that contributing his photos, time and talents to One Million Peace Signs is definitely still on his list of hobbies!