Editing Yoko Ono (section)

== Political activism, social media and public appreciation ==
{{main|Bed-in|Give Peace a Chance|Bagism}}
Ono has been an activist for [[peace movement|peace]] and [[human rights defender|human rights]] since the 1960s. After she and Lennon married in Gibraltar, they held a March 1969 "Bed-in for Peace" in their honeymoon suite at the Amsterdam [[Hilton Hotel]].<ref name=RS/> The newlyweds were eager to talk about and promote [[world peace]]; they wore pajamas and invited visitors and members of the press. Two months later, Ono and Lennon held another Bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth [[Fairmont Hotels and Resorts|Fairmont]] in Montreal, where they recorded their first single, "[[Give Peace A Chance]]".<ref name=PN/> The song became a top-20 hit for the newly christened Plastic Ono Band.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-lennon-mn0000232564/awards|title=John Lennon: Awards|publisher=AllMusic|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015040256/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-lennon-mn0000232564/awards|archive-date=October 15, 2012}}</ref> Other performance/demonstrations with John included "bagism", iterations with John of the ''Bag Piece''s she introduced in the early 1960s,{{sfn|Munroe|Ono|Hendricks|Altshuler|2000|p=162-65}} which encouraged a disregard for physical appearance in judging others.<ref name=allmusicB/> In December 1969, the two continued to spread their message of peace with billboards in 12 major world cities reading "WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas from John & Yoko".{{sfn|Munroe|Ono|Hendricks|Altshuler|2000|p=190-91}}

In the 1970s, Ono and Lennon became close to many radical, [[counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] leaders, including [[Bobby Seale]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Doggett|first=Peter|title=There's a Riot Going on: Revolutionaries, Rock Stars, and the Rise and Fall of the '60s|publisher=Grove/Atlantic|year=2007|page=501}}</ref> [[Abbie Hoffman]], [[Jerry Rubin]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/articles/2014/01/22/john-lennon-rebel-beatle|title=John Lennon: Rebel Beatle|magazine=U.S. News & World Report|last=Risen|first=Tom|date=January 22, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829214345/http://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/articles/2014/01/22/john-lennon-rebel-beatle|archive-date=August 29, 2016}}</ref> [[Michael X]],{{sfn|Harry|2001}} [[John Sinclair (poet)|John Sinclair]] (for whose rally in Michigan they flew to sing Lennon's song "Free John Sinclair" that effectively released the poet from prison),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/mar/03/john-sinclair-rock-revolutionary-mc5-interview|title=John Sinclair: 'We wanted to kick ass – and raise consciousness'|last=O'Hagan|first=Sean|newspaper=The Guardian|date=March 2, 2014|access-date=April 29, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429223619/http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/mar/03/john-sinclair-rock-revolutionary-mc5-interview|archive-date=April 29, 2014}}</ref> [[Angela Davis]], and street musician [[David Peel (musician)|David Peel]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thevillager.com/2012/12/13/john-lennon-david-peel-and-rocks-greatest-flattery/|title=John Lennon, David Peel and rock's greatest flattery|newspaper=The Villager|date=December 13, 2012|last=Derienzo|first=Paul|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223031028/http://thevillager.com/2012/12/13/john-lennon-david-peel-and-rocks-greatest-flattery/|archive-date=February 23, 2014|access-date=February 11, 2014}}</ref> Friend and ''Sexual Politics'' author Kate Millett has said Ono inspired her activism.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.harvardindependent.com/2011/12/conversations-with-kate-millett-discussing-feminism-art-spanish-and-harvard-1201/|title=Conversations with Kate Millett|last=Simmons|first=William|publisher=The Harvard Independent|date=December 1, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002854/http://www.harvardindependent.com/2011/12/conversations-with-kate-millett-discussing-feminism-art-spanish-and-harvard-1201/|archive-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref> Ono and Lennon appeared on ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'', taking over hosting duties for a week.<ref name=Mike>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-mike-douglas-show-with-john-lennon-yoko-ono-mw0001072473|title=The Mike Douglas Show with John Lennon & Yoko Ono|publisher=AllMusic|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102052119/http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-mike-douglas-show-with-john-lennon-yoko-ono-mw0001072473|archive-date=January 2, 2015}}</ref> Ono spoke at length about the evils of racism and [[sexism]]. She remained outspoken in her support of feminism, and openly bitter about the racism she had experienced from rock fans, especially in the UK.<ref name=TA/> Her reception within the US media was not much better. For example, an ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' article of the period was titled "John Rennon's Excrusive Gloupie"<ref name=RS/> and featured an unflattering [[David Levine]] cartoon.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cronin|first1=J. Ken|last2=Robertson|first2=Kirsty|title=''Imagining Resistance: Visual Culture and Activism in Canada''|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|date=2011|page=71}}</ref>

After the [[Columbine High School massacre]] in 1999, Ono paid for billboards to be put up in New York City and Los Angeles that bore the image of Lennon's blood-splashed spectacles.<ref name=Scot/> Early in 2002<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1855507.stm|title=Yoko brings peace message to UK|work=BBC News|date=March 5, 2002|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301214840/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1855507.stm|archive-date=March 1, 2014}}</ref> she paid about £150,000 ($213,375)<ref>Oanda.com's currency converter, 3/5/02</ref> for a billboard in [[Piccadilly Circus]] with a line from Lennon's "Imagine": "Imagine all the people living life in peace."<ref name=Scot/> Later the same year, she inaugurated a peace award, the [[LennonOno Grant for Peace]], by giving $50,000 (£31,900) in prize money originally to artists living "in regions of conflict". The award is given out every two years in conjunction with the lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower, and was first given to Israeli and Palestinian artists. Its program has since expanded to include writers, such as [[Michael Pollan]] and [[Alice Walker]], activists such as [[Vandana Shiva]] and [[Pussy Riot]], organizations such as New York's [[Center for Constitutional Rights]], even an entire country (Iceland).<ref>[http://www.taipeitimes.com/images/2008/12/24/TT-971224-P14-IB.pdf Imagine Peace] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319151441/http://www.taipeitimes.com/images/2008/12/24/TT-971224-P14-IB.pdf |date=March 19, 2009 }}. (PDF). ''Taipei Times''. December 24, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2012.</ref>

On Valentine's Day 2003, which was the eve of the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|Iraqi invasion by the US and UK]], Ono heard about a couple, Andrew and Christine Gale, who were holding a love-in protest in their tiny bedroom in [[Addingham, West Yorkshire]]. She phoned them and said, "It's good to speak to you. We're supporting you. We're all sisters together."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2914079.stm|title=Yoko Ono supports bed protest|publisher=BBC|date=April 3, 2003|access-date=February 10, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222055557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2914079.stm|archive-date=February 22, 2014}}</ref> The couple said that songs like "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine" inspired their protest. In 2004, Ono remade her song "Everyman..... Everywoman....." to support [[same-sex marriage]], releasing remixes that included "Every Man Has a Man Who Loves Him" and "Every Woman Has a Woman Who Loves Her".<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnstone|first=Nick|title=Yoko Ono Talking|publisher=Omnibus Press|page=13|isbn=978-0857122551|date=April 7, 2010}}</ref>

In August 2011, she made the documentary film about the Bed-ins ''Bed Peace'' available for free on YouTube,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRjjiOV003Q|title=BED PEACE starring John Lennon & Yoko Ono|website=[[YouTube]]|date=August 12, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320222323/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRjjiOV003Q|archive-date=March 20, 2016}}</ref> and as part of her website "Imagine Peace".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imaginepeace.com/archives/15702|title=Watch the film #BEDPEACE starring John Lennon & Yoko Ono ✩✩✩ FREE ✩✩✩|date=September 3, 2011|author=Yoko Ono Lennon|publisher=ImaginePeace.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530022451/http://imaginepeace.com/archives/15702|archive-date=May 30, 2014|access-date=February 18, 2014}}</ref>
In January 2013, the 79-year-old Ono, along with Sean Lennon and [[Susan Sarandon]], took to rural Pennsylvania in a bus under the banner of the Artists Against Fracking group she and Sean created with [[Mark Ruffalo]] in August 2012 to protest against [[hydraulic fracturing]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/18/fracking-debate-ono-lennon-sarandon-tour|title=Fracking debate draws Yoko, Lennon and Sarandon to rural battlegrounds: Artists Against Fracking board bus for magical mystery tour of Pennsylvania as New York and New Jersey decisions draw near|last=Gabbatt|first=Adam|date=January 18, 2013|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312154838/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/18/fracking-debate-ono-lennon-sarandon-tour|archive-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref> Other group members include Lady Gaga and [[Alec Baldwin]].<ref name=Int>{{cite magazine|url=https://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/topic/fracking-2012-9/|title=Intelligencer: Fracklash|date=September 10, 2012|magazine=New York|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414004717/http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/topic/fracking-2012-9/|archive-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref>

Ono promotes her art and shares inspirational messages and images<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/feb/23/art-twitter-twart|title=Art on Twitter: yes, but is it twart?|last=Jamieson|first=Ruth|date=February 23, 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=February 22, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228212653/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/feb/23/art-twitter-twart|archive-date=February 28, 2014}}</ref> through a robust and active Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook presence. In April 2014 her Twitter followers reached 4.69&nbsp;million,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/yokoono|title=Yoko Ono|publisher=Twitter|access-date=April 17, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410093528/https://twitter.com/yokoono|archive-date=April 10, 2014}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2019}} while her Instagram followers exceeded 99,000. Her tweets are short instructional poems,<ref name="twitter_pieces">{{cite web|url=http://www.yenmag.net/artery/yoko-onos-tweets-of-wisdom/|title=Yoko Ono's Tweets of Wisdom|last1=Sinclair|first1=Hannah|website=Yenmag.net|date=July 8, 2011|access-date=July 30, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110131516/http://www.yenmag.net/artery/yoko-onos-tweets-of-wisdom/|archive-date=November 10, 2013}}</ref> comments on media and politics,<ref name="twitter_political">{{cite news|title=Yoko Ono tweets John Lennon's bloody glasses|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yoko-ono-tweets-john-lennons-bloody-glasses/|work=CBS News|date=March 21, 2013|access-date=July 30, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523210207/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57575711/yoko-ono-tweets-john-lennons-bloody-glasses/|archive-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> and notes about performances.<ref name=GL>{{cite news|url=http://grantland.com/the-triangle/today-in-twitter-beefs-andy-murrays-mom-vs-yoko-ono/|title=Today in Twitter Beefs: Andy Murray's Mom vs. Yoko Ono|last=Phillips|first=Brian|publisher=Grantland|date=March 24, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429234810/http://grantland.com/the-triangle/today-in-twitter-beefs-andy-murrays-mom-vs-yoko-ono/|archive-date=April 29, 2014|access-date=April 29, 2014}}</ref>

In 1987, Ono travelled to [[Moscow]] to participate in the "International Forum for a Nuclear-free World and for the Survival of Mankind". She also visited [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], where she met with members of the local John Lennon memorial club. Among these members was [[Kolya Vasin]], who was considered the biggest Beatles fan in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.e-reading.club/chapter.php/3802/54/Bagir-Zade_-__Bitlz__-_navsegda!.html|title="Битлз" – продолжение истории – "Битлз" – навсегда!|website=E-reading.club}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>[https://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/2998096.html К храму Любви, Мира и Музыки ведут песни Джона Леннона] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329224904/https://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/2998096.html |date=March 29, 2019 }} (RU)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45402514|title=Russia's biggest Beatles fan Vasin dies|date=September 3, 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=March 9, 2019|archive-date=May 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505041732/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45402514|url-status=live}}</ref>

Public appreciation of Ono's work has shifted over time and was helped by a retrospective at a Whitney Museum branch in 1989<ref>{{Cite news|last=Taylor|first=Paul|date=February 5, 1989|title=ART; Yoko Ono's New Bronze Age at the Whitney|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/05/arts/art-yoko-ono-s-new-bronze-age-at-the-whitney.html|access-date=March 4, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306050805/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/05/arts/art-yoko-ono-s-new-bronze-age-at-the-whitney.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the 1992 release of the six-disc [[box set]] ''[[Onobox]]''. Retrospectives of her artwork have also been presented at the Japan Society in New York City in 2001,<ref>{{cite web|title=Yes Yoko Ono|url=https://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/gallery/past_exhibitions/past-exhibitions-expanded|access-date=March 4, 2019|website=Japansociety.org|archive-date=November 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105121259/https://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/gallery/past_exhibitions/past-exhibitions-expanded|url-status=dead}}</ref> in [[Bielefeld]], Germany, and the UK in 2008, [[Frankfurt]], and [[Bilbao]], Spain, in 2013 and [[The Museum of Modern Art]] in New York City in 2015. She received a Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement from the Venice Biennale in 2009 and the 2012 Oskar Kokoschka Prize, Austria's highest award for applied contemporary art.

In January 2021, Ono was one of the founders of The Coda Collection, a service that launched in the U.S. via Amazon Prime Video Channels on February 18, 2021, the day Ono turned 88. The Coda Collection will feature a slew of music documentaries and concert films. Jim Spinello will run The Coda Channel. Yoko Ono added, "John Lennon was always on the cutting edge of music and culture. The Coda Collection will be a new way for fans to connect on a deeper level."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/yoko-ono-janie-hendrix-the-coda-collection-1120106/|title=Yoko Ono, Janie Hendrix Launch the Coda Collection Music Channel|first1=Althea|last1=Legaspi|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=January 28, 2021|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=February 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220180455/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/yoko-ono-janie-hendrix-the-coda-collection-1120106/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/yoko-ono-and-janie-hendrix-help-launch-new-music-channel-coda-collection-2866765|title=Yoko Ono and Janie Hendrix help launch new music channel Coda Collection|website=[[NME]]|date=January 28, 2021|access-date=February 17, 2021|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204094544/https://www.nme.com/news/music/yoko-ono-and-janie-hendrix-help-launch-new-music-channel-coda-collection-2866765|url-status=live}}</ref>